Edgar Thomas Towner letters

This collection of correspondence relates to the departure of Edgar Towner with the 25th Infantry Battalion for service overseas during the First World War. It includes an account of his voyage aboard HMAS Aeneas which left Brisbane in June 1915; their camp outside Cairo; casualties arriving from Gallipoli and exploring historic and famous sites including the Pyramids, and the Barrage at the River Nile Delta. His sister Greta Towner, a nurse with the AANS is serving on Lemnos Island.

[Items 30576/1 - 30576/9]

This collection of correspondence relates to the service of Edgar Towner after the withdrawal of troops from Gallipoli. Towner departed for France in March 1916 and was transferred to the 2nd Machine Gun Battalion and allotted to 7th Brigade Machine Gun Company. He was then promoted to 2nd Lieutenant and put in charge of the battalion's transport section.

Included is a letter from Greta (Margarite) Robinson, to her cousin Edgar Towner whose husband of 3 months Lieutenant Ernest Robinson, RN (1890-1914) was killed while serving as an officer on HMS Hawke which was sunk in the North Sea, 1914.

[Items 30576/10 - 30576/18]

This collection of letters from Edgar Towner, now a full Lieutenant relate to his service in France with the 7th Brigade Machine Gun Company. Towner was 'Mentioned in despatches' in June 1917 for 'devotion to duty and consistent good work' and he describes in detail the conditions they experienced in the front lines.

Also included are several items from his sister Greta Towner, a nurse with the AANS serving near the front, and one from his uncle John Herley of Brixton, England describing a recent air raid.

[Items 30576/19 - 30576/31]

This series of letters and telegrams describe Edgar Towners service with the 7th Machine Gun Company operating close to the front lines in France.

In June, Towner was in command during an attack to the south of Morlancourt, and for his actions he was awarded the Military Cross.

In September, Towner was wounded but remained on duty under intense fire for more than thirty hours, until he could be evacuated. 'For most conspicuous bravery, initiative and devotion to duty' he was also awarded the Victoria Cross.

Included are a number of telegrams between family and friends advising of his awards, and his admittance to hospital. Following the armistice declaration, Towner is billeted with his battalion in Yves Gomezee, Belgium.

[Items 30576/32 - 30576/57]

In this series of letters from Nurse Greta Towner and her brother Edgar, we can follow their experiences in England and Belgium after the armistice was declared in November 1918.

Edgar Towner was billeted in Belgium while his battalion waited for their turn to be repatriated, which was delayed by strikes in London

Greta Towner was granted leave to stay at 'Glen Almond' a convalescence home, in St Albans, Hertfordshire. 'Glen Almond' was the country home of Harold McIlwraith who, in July 1916, lent his home to the Australian government for use as a convalescent home for Australian nurses.

[Items 30576/58 - 30576/82]

Postcards sent by Edgar Towner to his family in Queensland while serving overseas with the 25th Infantry Battalion and the 2nd Machine Gun Brigade during the First World War.

Miscellaneous greeting cards & an envelope retained by the Towner family relating to the service of Edgar Towner during the First World War.

Newspaper items relating to the service of Lieutenant Edgar Towner during the First World War, and the sale of his property 'Valparaiso' east of Blackall in 1921.

Certificates of commission relating to the service of Edgar Towner during the First World War.

German soldier's pocket book souvenired by Edgar Towner in 1917. The pocket book which belonged to Hermann Schoenfeld also contained postcards, photographs, a letter and a soldier's paybook that belonged to Julius Augeleit.

[Item 30576/99, with items 30576/100 - 30576/127]

All items enclosed in the item have been scanned together, they include the following:

• Studio portrait of a German soldier and a youth, taken in Berlin by A. Kulhanek, ca. 1914-1917 
• Photographic postcard from Fritz ? post marked Perlswalde, Prussia, sent to Hermann Schoenfeld, in Osten, Germany. The card was sent via Feldpost, the German military mail service, it is written in German and depicts two German officers 
• Photographic postcard to Reservist Hermann Schoenfeld, in Osten, Germany from his brother [unidentified] a soldier serving with the Landw. Fussaril Battalion 27, 2 Batterie
• Postcard from Gunner Pieper, 7th Machine Gun Company, Konigsberg, Prussia to Hermann Schoenfeld, in Osten Germany. The card is written in German, and depicts a large troop of German soldiers enjoying a meal 
• Photographic postcard from Gunner Pieper, 7th Machine Gun Company, Konigsberg, Prussia to Gefreiter [Lance Corporal] Hermann Schoenfeld. The card depicts men of a machine gun company, in the snow; it is written in German
• Photographic postcard depicting a German soldier driving a pony cart
• Photographic postcard of German soldiers outside their lodgings
• Photographic postcard showing German soldiers and their horses
• Photographic postcard taken in a studio in Poland of a German soldier [unidentified]
• Photographic postcard of a German soldier [unidentified], standing in a snow-covered fortification
• Photographic postcard a German officer [unidentified], he is wearing an Iron Cross medal tucked into his coat
• Photographic postcard of a German soldier [unidentified], pictured in front of a fireplace and mantle
• Photographic postcard of German Reserve Infantry Company, inscribed Misdroy [Poland], 1916
• Postcard of Les Halles, Ypres, France
• Postcard of the reservoir, in front of Abbaye d'Aulne, France
• Postcard of the ruined Abbaye d'Aulne, France
• Soldbuch [German soldier's paybook] belonging to Grenadier Julius Augeleit, from Sobersken, Ragnitz
• Letter from Grethe Augeleit, in Tilsit to her husband Julius Augeleit. She has moved, it is further for their son to get to school; she is worried about having money to pay the rent
• Postcard addressed to Grethe Augeleit, Tilsit
• Photographic postcard of German soldiers outside their headquarters, which appears to be part of a railway station
• Photograph of two German soldiers, it has been annotated with their names - Gehrmann and Augeleit
• Photograph of seven German soldiers. Standing at rear: Scknor, unknown, Siford, Kruse; seated: Stut, Klibofski, Augeleit
• Photograph of seven German soldiers, unidentified
• Postcard depicting The Siege of Maubeuge which took place from 24 August-7 September 1914, on the Western Front
• Photographic postcard of six German soldiers outside their wooden shelter built into an embankment
• Postcard of landscape and waterway, Hamburg; the card has not been sent
• Photographic postcard of eleven German soldiers outside their wooden lodgings; the card has not been sent
• Decorated postcard 'die besten wunsche' [best wishes]; the card has not been sent