EDWARDS ED
EDWARDS Edwin Daniel
Died 27 February 1942 Age 22
Remembered Chatham Naval Memorial. Ref: Number 53, 3
NAME EDWARDS Edwin George
Service Record
Seaman C/JX 193991 Royal Navy. He lived at 7 Edward St with his parents, George and Jane. Before the war he worked as a railway porter. On enlisting he joined the Royal Navy. He was killed in action on 27 February 1942, during the sinking of HMS Electra in the battle of the Java Sea.
Launched in 1934, HMS Electra was a British E-Class destroyer, which had mostly been deployed in the North Atlantic, where it had been involved in the battle of the Denmark Strait, which ended in the sinking of the Bismarck.
In October 1941 Electra was assigned to "Force Z", a naval squadron that had been put together with the aim of deterring the Japanese from invading Malaya and Singapore. It comprised the battlecruiser, HMS Repulse, and the battleship, HMS Prince of Wales, plus four destroyers, but perhaps crucially, no aircraft carrier. On 10 December 1941, Force Z was attacked by Japanese aircraft and the Repulse and Prince of Wales were both sunk thus leaving Malaya open to invasion. The surviving destroyer escort had no option but to retreat back to Singapore.
On 27 February 1942, HMS Electra sailed as part of multi-national fleet trying to intercept the Japanese invasion fleet heading for Java. The subsequent engagement became known as the battle of the Java Sea and resulted in an overwhelming Japanese victory. HMS Electra engaged the much larger Japanese light cruiser, 'Jintsu', and three other ships, in an attempt to provide cover whilst others retreated. After taking several direct hits, Electra keeled over and sank with 119 men.
Her wreck was discovered in 2003, but when it was re-surveyed in 2016, it was found to have been heavily damaged by illegal salvage. Pre-atomic bomb steel is a valuable commodity with many uses and the main source is from ships sunk in WW1 and 2. Whilst there are some legitimate sources, notably the fleet scuttled by the Imperial German Navy in 1919 in Scapa Flow, much of it comes from these wrecks and their long term survival as war graves is under severe threat.
The 1921 census showed Edwin aged 1 year 10 months staying at his grandparents Daniel and Ann Parkinson, their son in law George Edwards and Jane Edwards their daughter. His siblling was John Edwards who was 7 months.
The Lancaster Guardian on 26 February 1943, there is a memorial message from his cousin which stated that Edwin was killed in action Feb 27th 1942, also Jack his brother who is missing in action since 14 February 1942 from Annie and Harold of 21 Highfield Terrace, Carnforth, Lancashire.
The data is the editor's interpretation of documents from:
The National Archive
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Find My Past (this can be viewed free of charge in local UK libraries if you are a library member).
Ancestry.co.uk (this can be viewed free of charge in local UK libraries if you are a library member).
Everyone Remembered
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