4/1563 - Sapper

Edward Robert

CRAWFORD

1st Reinforcements

Timeline


1915

1915

13 October

Posted to Tunnelling Corps

From NZ Infantry

Initial training

Avondale, Auckland

1915

18 December

Transfer to England

S.S. Ruapehu

1916

1916

3 February

Marched in to the Company Training Camp, Falmouth

1916

9 March

Embarked for France

1916

16 March

From the Front

The Company joined the underground warfare in the North of France

Chantecler, Sector of Arras

1916

16 April

Admitted to hospital with measles

1916

1 June

Admitted to hospital from NZ Base Depot, Etaples

1916

16 November

From the Front

The Company began the operations to connect old underground quarries in Arras in order to accommodate thousands of soldiers for an upcoming battle

1916

17 November

Rejoined the Company from NZ Base Depot, Etaples

1917

1917

9 April

Battle of Arras

British Offensive


From the Front

The Company was employed to rebuild a major road leading to the Front during the battle

Arras-Cambrai Road

1917

5 May

From the Front

The Company moved to Monchy, ten kilometres east of Arras, to work on the fortification of the new front line

The Billets in Monchy

1917

28 May

Arrested by Military Police, Boulogne

1917

5 July

Appeared before a Field General Court Martial for desertion

1917

16 July

Sentenced to death by a Field General Court Martial. Commuted to 5 years penal servitude and suspended

1917

17 July

Rejoined the Company

1917

16 December

XVIIth Corps refused to put suspended sentence into effect

1918

From the Front

The Company was still carrying out the digging of underground premises and defences on the Front near Arras

The Workshop in Arras

1918

22 January

Admitted to hospital with a gunshot wound to the left leg

1918

2 March

Awaited trial for self-inflicted wounds

1918

21 March

Spring Offensive

German Attacks


From the Front

The Company was engaged in the defence of Arras by digging new trenches and dug-outs under constant enemy shellfire

1918

6 April

Classified unfit for active service, trial and punishment

1918

8 August

100 Days Offensive

Allied Attacks

1918

30 August

Released from arrest

Marched in to Base Depot, Etaples

1918

6 September

Embarked for England

1918

11 September

Marched in to NZ Expeditionary Force Headquarters, London

1918

27 September

From the Front

The Company experienced its newly reconversion in bridge construction

In front of the Havrincourt Bridge

1918

11 November

Armistice

Cessation of Hostilities


From the Front

The Company continued to build bridges to reconnect a fragmented territory

Over the Sambre River, Maubeuge

1918

22 December

Forfeited 14 days pay by Royal Warrant for absence without leave and admitted to hospital with a leg injury

1919

1919

10 March

Transfer to New Zealand

H.S. Maheno

1920

1920

15 January

Final discharge

End of Service

Decoration

British War Medal
British War Medal

Victory Medal
Victory Medal

Sources and bibliography

  • Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira, Online Cenotaph He Toa Taumata Rau: Edward Robert CRAWFORD.
  • Nominal Roll of New Zealand Expeditionary Force, 1915. New Zealand Engineers Tunnelling Company, Wellington, Government Printer, 1916, p. 7.

How to cite this page

Anthony BYLEDBAL, “Edward Robert CRAWFORD (4/1563)”, New Zealand Tunnellers, 2024 (2009). Accessed: 30 December 2024. URL: https://www.nztunnellers.com/roll/details.php?id=169