Can you help find Edwin?

Michael Edwin “Edwin” Lawler was born in December 1884 in Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand, the youngest child of Michael Henry Edward Lawler and Mary “Florence” Lawler (née Lawler). Both parents came from long-established Irish Catholic Lawler families originating in Queen’s County (Laois), Ireland. Edwin’s father was born on 1 January 1837 in the Catholic parish of Offerlane, Camross, Queen’s County, the son of Mark Lawler and Catherine Bowe. He emigrated to New Zealand aboard the Chrysolite in 1862 and later settled in Christchurch.

Edwin’s mother, Mary Florence, was born around 1842 and was the daughter of Edwin Lawler and Mary St John, also of Queen’s County. Michael and Mary married in Christchurch on 21 February 1871, bringing two Irish Lawler lines together. The couple lived in Sydenham, Christchurch, where Michael worked as a labourer. Their early married life was marked by both happiness and loss, with several of their children dying young:

Tragedy struck soon after Edwin’s birth - Edwin’s father died on 3 July 1885. Florence remained in Christchurch for nearly half a century more, passing away in 1933 at the age of 91. As he grew, Edwin trained as a wood turner, a skilled trade that appears consistently across his electoral and military documents. He also noted he was a blacksmith in one set of his enlistment papers. Sometime before 1912, he moved from New Zealand to Sydney, where he married Esther “Bessie” Mahon Crew Hawkins on 23 December 1912 at Newtown. Bessie already had a young son, Billy, who Edwin accepted into his life when they married. The family lived in Erskineville and Newtown in Sydney’s inner suburbs.

Edwin first enlisted in January 1915 under the name “Edward Harry Lawler” (note -Harvey in his AIF file), but just two days after he enlisted he had three attempts in three days to ‘break camp’ and this was repeated again in May. He was discharged on 20 May 1915 as “not likely to make an effective soldier.” Source - NAA, B2455, Edward Havey Lawler – First AIF Personnel Dossiers 1914–1920, p 6

Determined to serve, however, he enlisted again on 1 July 1915 under his correct name—two days after his thirtieth birthday. This time he was accepted and assigned to the 1st Battalion, 10th Reinforcement and sent for his military training at the Liverpool Camp.

After a short period of training he embarked from Sydney on HMAT A69 Warilda in October 1915, for the month-long trip to the camps in Egypt. The main training camp was at Tel-el-Kebir, was about 110 km northeast of Cairo. The 40,000 men in the camp were comprised of Gallipoli veterans and the thousands of reinforcements arriving regularly from Australia. With the ‘doubling of the AIF’ as it expanded from two infantry divisions to five, major reorganisations were underway. The 53rd Battalion was formed on 16 February 1916 and was made up of Gallipoli veterans from the 1st Battalion and the new recruits from Australia and Edwin was reassigned here. The Gallipoli soldiers in the 53rd were not slow in pointing out to whoever would listen that they were the “Dinkums” and the new recruits were the “War Babies”.

Source: - AWM4 23/70/1, 53rd Battalion War Diaries, Feb-July 1916, page 3

Training for all continued. In March they were sent to Ferry Post, on foot, a trip of about 60 km that took three days. It was a significant challenge, walking over the soft sand in the 38°C heat with each man carrying their own possessions and 120 rounds of ammunition. Many of the men suffered heat stroke.

Once there, they remained at Ferry Post guarding the Suez Canal from any potential threats posed by the Ottoman Army. On 16 June they began the move to the Western Front. 32 officers and 958 soldiers of the 53rd left Alexandria on 19 June on the troopship HMT Royal George, bound for Marseilles, France to become part of the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front. They arrived in Marseilles on 28 June and were immediately entrained for a 62-hour journey north to Hazebrouck before finally marching into the camp at nearby Thiennes in northern France. During their trip it was noted that their ‘reputation had evidently preceded them’, as they were well received by the French at the towns all along the route.

Source - AWM4 23/70/2 53rd Battalion War Diaries February - June 1916, p. 4

This area near Fleurbaix was known as the “Nursery Sector” – a supposedly relatively quiet area where inexperienced Allied troops could learn the harsh realities of Western Front trench warfare against the Germans. But the quiet times and the training period did not last long. On 8 July Edwin began a 30 km march to Fleurbaix and on 10 July, the 53rd entered trenches for the first time.

The front near Fleurbaix was anything but calm. Rain flooded the communication trenches, artillery fire harassed supply lines, and the soldiers dug in amid the mud and barbed wire of No-Man’s-Land.

The main objective for the 53rd was to take the trenches to the left of a heavily armed, elevated German defensive position, the ‘Sugar Loaf’, which dominated the front lines. If the Sugar Loaf could not be taken, the 53rd and the other battalions would be subjected to murderous enfiladed fire from the machine guns and counterattacks from that direction. As they advanced, they were to link up with the 60th and 54th Battalions on their flanks. The men knew something was coming. They rehearsed attacks in replica trench systems, inspected bayonets and watched as huge guns rolled into place behind the lines. Then on 16 July, they moved up for an attack—only to have it postponed due to weather.

The delay proved torturous. Private Jim Granger (4784), a young Dorrigo soldier, described the tension in his dugout:

On the 19th, heavy bombardment was underway from both armies by 11.00 AM. At 4.00 PM the 54th Battalion rejoined on their left. All were now in position for battle. Zero Hour for advancing from their front-line trenches was to be 5.45 PM, but the Germans knew this attack was coming and were well-prepared. They opened a massive artillery bombardment on the Australians at 5.15 PM, causing chaos and many casualties. The Australians went on the offensive at 5.43 PM. They moved forward in four waves – half of A and B Companies in each of the first two waves and half of C & D in the third and fourth. They did not immediately charge the German lines, they went out into No-Man’s-Land and lay down, waiting for the British bombardment to lift.

Private Arthur Crewes (4755) wrote of the time:

At 6.00 PM the German lines were rushed. The 53rd were under heavy artillery, machine gun and rifle fire, but were able to advance rapidly. Corporal J.T. James of C Company (3550) reported:

As below, the 14th Brigade War Diary notes that the artillery had been successful and “very few living Germans were found in the first and second line trenches”, but within the first 20 minutes the 53rd lost ALL the company commanders, ALL their seconds in command and six junior officers.

Source - AWM C E W Bean, The AIF in France, Vol 3, Chapter XII, pg 369

Some of the advanced trenches were just water filled ditches, which needed to be fortified by the 53rd to be able to hold their advanced position against future attacks. They were able to link up with the 54th on their left and, with the 31st and 32nd, occupy a line from Rouges Bancs to near Delangre Farm, but the 60th on their right had been unable to advance due to the devastation from the machine gun emplacement at the Sugar Loaf. They held their lines through the night against “violent” attacks from the Germans from the front, but their exposed right flank had allowed the Germans access to the first line trench BEHIND the 53rd, requiring the Australians to later have to fight their way back to their own lines. By 9.00 AM on the 20th, the 53rd received orders to retreat from positions won and by 9.30 AM they had “retired with very heavy loss”.

Source - AWM4 23/70/2 53rd Battalion War Diaries July 1916 page 7

Of the 990 men who had left Alexandria just weeks before, the initial count at roll call was 36 killed, 353 wounded and 236 missing:

To get some perspective of the battle, when Charles Bean, Australia’s official war historian, attended the battlefield two and half years later, he observed a large quantity of bones, torn uniforms and Australian kit still on the battlefield. The final impact of the battle on the 53rd was 246 soldiers were killed or died from their wounds and, of this, 190 were not able to be identified.

In the aftermath, confusion reigned. Edwin was seen advancing into the chaos of the battlefield, but like hundreds of others, he did not return when the shattered remains of the battalion withdrew. Edwin’s name first appeared on the casualty list as “Missing in Action, 19 July 1916.” For his wife Bessie, living in Erskineville with young Billy, the uncertainty would stretch on for many months. Over a year after the battle, Private William F. Hoare (3038), who had trained and travelled with Edwin from Sydney, gave the following account about Edwin:

Edwin’s status was formally changed from “Missing” to “Killed in Action” on 2 September 1917, with the date of his death officially recorded as 19 July 1916. Still hopeful for some degree of closure for Edwin’s loss, in September 1917 Bessie wrote the Army to get Edwin’s personal belongings returned to her. As with many of such requests, given the chaos of the battle, his things were not able to be sent.

Edwin was issued the 1914-15 Star Medal, the British War Medal, the Victory Medal, a Memorial Plaque and a Memorial Scroll. It was a formal recognition of his service, though it could never replace the loss. Years later, on 24 January 1923, Esther signed the authority for the issue of Edwin’s Memorial Plaque, the bronze medallion awarded to the families of those killed during the war.

Although Edwin never returned from the fields of France, his story continued in Australia through the family he left behind. Bessie lived a long and resourceful life after the war. She raised her son Billy and maintained close ties with her extended family, including the relatives of her sister Phyllis—one of whose children later recalled vivid memories of Bessie’s presence in their lives. Bessie often visited their household, sewing clothes for the children and sharing stories. She spoke of her travels, particularly her time in the United States—an unusual experience for a woman of her generation, and one that made a lasting impression on those who knew her. Bessie died in 1968 at Bankstown.

For Edwin’s New Zealand family, the loss echoed for decades. His mother Mary survived him by many years, passing away in 1933 at age 91. She had already endured the loss of several children in infancy; losing her youngest son in the war was another deep blow. Edwin has no known grave. Like so many men of the 53rd Battalion who fell that night, he is commemorated on the V.C. Corner Australian Cemetery and Memorial at Fromelles, where the names of the missing stand in place of the graves they never received.

Edwin’s remains were not recovered; he has no known grave. After the battle, the Germans recovered 250 Australian soldiers and placed them in a burial pit at Pheasant Wood. This grave was discovered in 2008 and since then efforts have been underway to identify these soldiers by DNA testing from family members. As of 2026, 181 of the soldiers have been identified, including 15 of the 190 unidentified soldiers from the 53rd Battalion. We welcome all branches of Edwin’s family to come forward to donate DNA to help with his identification.

DNA is urgently needed from descendants of the Lawler, Bowe, St. John, and Hawkins lines with roots in New Zealand, Ireland, or Sydney. If you know anything of family contacts, please contact the Fromelles Association. We hope that one day Edwin will be named and honoured with a known grave.

Please visit Fromelles.info to follow the ongoing identification project and Edwin’s story.