Major Edmund William Jenyns MiD
26th Battalion, AIF
ANGAU (WW2)
by Robert Simpson
Edmund William Jenyns was born in Bromelton, Queensland on 7th September 1893, a son to Joshua Jenyns and Sarah Barnes. Joshua had been born in England in 1835 and had migrated to Australia, but it is not known when. His parents passed away only a few years after his birth and it looks like his Grandmother looked after him. Sarah was born in Queensland in 1854. She was previously married to James Burley in February 1873, but he died in November that year. She then married Joshua on 15th April 1875. Edmund was the youngest of nine children and all but two survived past their childhood. Bromelton is a small village in Southern Queensland, west from Beaudesert. One of its claims to fame is that it has a crossing loop on the national standard gauge railway network to Queensland’s narrow gauge. It is not known what they did there. Edmund had to face adulthood with some harshness, as his mother passed away in 1908 and his father in 1913. Joshua was previously married to Elizabeth Willis, whom he married on 15th July 1858 in Brisbane. She was born in England in 1838, and passed away on 8th June 1873 in Brisbane. They had five boys and one girl and out of them only two of the brothers lived beyond 20 years old. Edmund was listed in the 1915 Electoral Roll living at Sylvania, Bromelton as a dairy farmer and he had registered on 1st October 1914.
Private 349 Edmund William Jenyns joined on 14th April 1915 at Brisbane with the record showing he was born in Beaudesert. He was 22 years and 7 months old; 6 foot 1.75 inches tall, weighed 161 pounds, had a chest measurement of 35 to 37 inches, and was of dark complexion with brown eyes and dark hair. He had a scar on his right shin and had perfect vision. He was appointed to B Company 26th Battalion AIF.
The Nominal Roll for the 7th Infantry brigade, 26th Infantry Battalion B Company showed 349 Sergeant Edmond William Jenyns, single, of Tambourine Mountains, Oxenford, Queensland was paid 10 shillings a day. His next of kin was listed as Herbert John Jenyns, brother, of the same address and Edmund was a carpenter. His religion is listed as Baptist. The 26th Infantry Battalion departed from Brisbane on HMAT Ascanius A11 on 24th May 1915 with Edmond. They embarked at Alexandria on 4th September 1915 to join the MEF at Gallipoli. They arrived at Gallipoli on the 12th, where the Battalion played a purely defensive role including the defence of Courtney’s and Steele’s Posts and Russell’s Top. They withdrew on 12th December.
After the evacuation at Gallipoli he was sent to Mudros and from there to Alexandria on 9th January 1916. They stayed in Egypt for a few months. At Alexandria on 15th March 1916 he proceeded to join the BEF and disembarked at Marseilles on the 21st. On the 6th June they were involved in the first trench raid undertaken by Australian troops in the Western Front.
On 4th May 1916 he was sightly wounded (a bomb wound) at Armenteres and was sent to the Divisional Rest Station at Rouen after going through the Field Ambulance. He returned to the unit on 15th May. Edmund was severely wounded on a second occasion with a gun shot wound to the head, thigh and arm at Pozieres on 29th July. The Battalion’s first major battle was at Pozieres from 28th July. Initially he went through the 1st Field Ambulance to the 6th Ambulance Motor Corps and was taken to 24th General Hospital at Etaples. He was sent to the 2nd Birmingham War Hospital on 19th August from Calais on S.S. Dieppe where he spent the rest of 1916 progressing favourably. He was admitted to the No. 1 Auxiliary Hospital on 6th October and was granted furlough from 11th to 25th November. He was then sent back to Australia for discharge.
On 17th September 1916 Edmund was recommended for a Military Medal for “good and consistent work in trenches from April 12th to July 28th 1916, and for ably leading his platoon in the attack on POZIERES RIDGE on 28/29th July 1916” but it was crossed out and Mention written under it in the Honour column. Serjeant E M Jenyns was Mentioned in Despatches in the London Gazette on 4th January 1917, volume 29890 page 255 position 126. A notification of the award was sent to his brother noting the despatch from General Sir Douglas Haig GCB, Commander-in-Chief of the British Armies in France: I have the honour to submit the name of the undermentioned non-commissioned officers serving under my command, whose distinguished and gallant services, and devotion to duty, I consider of deserving special mention :- No. 349 Sergeant EDMOND WILLIAM JENYNS.
On 10th April 1917 he returned on Karoola to Brisbane with a gun shot wound to the head and right thigh. He was discharged from there on 29th May 1917.
He enlisted as 7180 Edmund William Jenyns on 21st December 1917 at Darlinghurst, New South Wales in the 21st Reinforcements of the 26th Battalion. He was living at 17 Lyndhurst Chambers, 84 Elizabeth St, Sydney. Edmund was now 24 years and 3 months old, 6 foot 3.25 inches tall, weighed 182 pounds, had a chest measurement of 34 to 37 inches, of a fair complexion, brown eyes and dark brown hair. Three wounds are shown, on his forehead, left arm and upper thigh. He was appointed on 2nd February 1918. The Nominal Roll for the 26th Infantry Battalion, 21st Reinforcements shows 7180 Sergeant William Edmond Jenyns, a commercial agent living in Sydney, N.S.W. was paid 10 shillings 6 pence of which 4 shillings was noted in his pay book 402036. It documents him as reenlisting and being previously 349 with the 26th Battalion. Next of kin is still his brother, Herbert John of Upper Coomera. His religion is listed as Presbyterian. He had signed a statement that he had lodged his will with his brother and it was dated 25th February 1918. The 19th to 21st reinforcements for the 26th Battalion left Sydney on the SS Ormonde on 2nd March 1918.
He was appointed V.O. Quarter Master Sergeant on the same date. The Ormonde arrived at Suez on 4th April 1918 and on the 30th he was transferred to Port Dewfish for embarkation to Southampton when he disembarked on 15th May. On that date he also reverted to the permanent rank of Sergeant. On 3rd June he was transferred to 49th Battalion Details (12th Training Battalion Codford) where he was until 11th September. While he was there the Battalion captured the first German tank that the Allies captured, the Mephisto No. 506, which is now on display in Brisbane. Then he was transferred to 26th Battalion on that date and proceeded to France on 4th October and joined his unit on the 10th October. He arrived after the Battalion had seen its last action of the war, the capture of Lormisset. On 22nd October he proceeded to England for Infantry Cadet School.
As a Sergeant, on 12th December 1918 he was marched into No. 20 from No. 5 Officer Cadet Battalion at Cambridge in England until 20th January 1919. A form dated 14th January noted his standard of education was good, his ability to train a platoon was very fair, and his ability to command a platoon was good. He was appointed a probationary 2nd Lieutenant in the 26th Battalion AIF on 6th January. He was then sent to Havre on 20th January from England and on the 22nd he was taken on strength of the 26th Battalion from Officers Training Corps. In the Field he was to be a Lieutenant from 6th April 1919. On 19th May he proceeded to base for return to Australia.
Edmund is listed on AIF List 43C as 2nd Lieutenant 26th Battalion on 6th January 1919 and he was on probation. From 6th April 1919 he was to be Lieutenant in the 26th Battalion. He returned to Australia on Ulysses, as per the roll, as Lieutenant Edmund William Jenyns of 26th Battalion, on 22nd July 1919 and was struck off strength on that date. His appointment was terminated on 29th September 1919.
In the 1919 Electoral Roll he is listed as living at Tambourine Mountain, Southport and his occupation was carpenter. His brothers were listed in the Queensland Directory of 1919 as dairy farmers at Tambourine Mountain.
He was listed on the Reserve of Officers as 2nd Lieutenant on 1st January 1920. Also in 1920 he was listed in the Queensland Brand Directory as having the brand 7JE at Glasshouse Mountains, N.C. Railway.
Edmund married Daphne Doreen Batten Beilby in 1923. As nothing is listed in Queensland it is assumed they met or at least married in New Guinea. She was born in Queensland in 1901. Her father was a postmaster and moved around Queensland a bit. She was a fine piano player (as were her two sisters) and had been expertly trained in Brisbane. Her parents retired to the Gold Coast and lived in a house called “Beelbee”. In 1927 she attended a pre-wedding afternoon in Kelvin Grove so they must have been back in Queensland then.
Between 1929 and 1936 they made various trips to Queensland and New South Wales and it seems that sometimes Daphne made the trip by herself. She is listed on the Montoro, leaving from Sydney to Brisbane and then to Rabaul on 9th November 1929. She then arrives back in Sydney on the same ship on 23rd December 1930. Edmund is listed on the Marsina, arriving in Sydney on 15th August 1931. They are both at Southport at a tennis club on 7th October 1931 and Edmund departed on the Maodhul for New Guinea on 29th October 1931 after spending several months in Southport. Daphne spent several months with her parents in Cairns in late 1934 and early 1935 before arriving in Southport to stay for several months. Daphne was also in Cairns in 1936, playing bridge at the Parish Hall. A note in his service record gives his address as Fileba Plantation, Kavieng, New Guinea and is dated 5th September 1934.
In 1936 Daphne is listed as living in Southport but Edmund is not on the roll.
He was listed as a Lieutenant in the New Guinea Volunteer Reserve on 20th January 1940 in Port Moresby. Edmund enlisted at Wau, Territory of New Guinea on 8th December 1941 and was listed as a Temporary Captain from 3rd March 1941 to 31st August 1942. His service number was originally NGX350 and another number P980 is also listed in some records. He was then promoted to Captain on 1st September 1942. He was listed as a Temporary Major from 30th November 1942 to 23rd February 1943 and was promoted to Major in the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles on 24th February 1943. Wau was part of the New Guinea goldfields and the NGVR was set up to defend certain strategic areas including there from enemy attack. He was part of B Company. He was then sent to Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit from 12th March 1943 as the NGVR had ceased to be an effective force due to losses. ANGAU had been formed in 1942 as a civil administration of Papua New Guinea during World War 2. It was based in Port Moresby and undertook civil tasks of law and medical services. Its major roll was to organise land and labour resources for the war effort. They were highly regarded by the military. It was abolished after the war. Major Edmund William Jenyns was awarded a Mention in Despatches for “exceptional services in filed in S.W.P. Area” which was promulgated in the London gazette on 29th May 1943 after being recommended in January 1943. The Australian War Memorial has him listed as Temporary Major NG2017 serving with the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles. He was discharged on 1st December 1945 as a Major in the ANGAU.
In December 1941 the New Guinea Administration requested the Australian Government to evacuate all non-essential personnel. Daphne was in the list of passengers who were evacuated by aircraft from various part of New Guinea over five days in December 1941. She was evacuated on 25th December and her date of birth was noted as 1st April 1902 (an error) and it states she was the wife of NGX350 Major Jenyns, Edmund William.
There is a document at National Archives listed as ANGPCB [Australian New Guinea Production Control Board] – Return of planters and employees – Jenyns, E W; Jenyns Plantation. It is dated after the war, so he obviously grew something there. There is also a box – Edmund William Jenyns and Daphne Doreen Batten Jenyns [0.5 cm; box 18] which is dated 1941 to 1947. Who knows what it may contain? Other records include JENYNS, Edmund William NGX350 – NGVR Pay ledger and history cards.
By the 1949 Electoral Roll they were living at “Beelbee” Pacific Highway, Tugun and no occupation was listed. In the 1954 and 1959 rolls they were living at Queen St. Southport and he had retired as listed.
Edmund passed away on 24th December 1960. A death notice was placed in the Sydney Morning Herald on 30th December stating that he died in Brisbane, late of Southport, formerly of New Guinea. It would appear they had no children.
Daphne continued to live at 21 Queens St. Southport as shown in the 1963 Electoral Roll. Where she went after that is not known, neither is when she died.
Edmund had a brother who also served in World War 1. Joshua Ernest Jenyns was born on 12th January 1888 in Brisbane. Private 2170 Joshua Jenyns embarked with the 1st to 8th Reinforcements of the 25th Infantry Battalion on 18th September 1915 on HMAT Armadale A26. He was reported missing and later as being killed in action on 29th July 1916. Joshua is remembered at the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in France. His name appeared in The Argus (Melbourne) in the list of missing as J. E. Jenyns, Upper Coomera. Edmund enquired to the Adjutant of the 26th Battalion and was worried about what had happened to him, to which the reply states “this man was reported missing on 29-7-16 during an attack on Pozieres”. A step-brother, Robert Sylvester, born 1889, also served as Private 16411 in the 2nd Divisional Train and left Australia on 21st June 1917 and returned on 4th July 1919.
The family had shares in the family company which produced Jenyns Corsets. They ran various advertisements in Brisbane newspapers. In 1927 Sarah Jenyns sued her husband Ebenezer Randolph (an older half-brother from Joshua’s first marriage) and other brothers including Edmund over the patent which they said was as improvement on her design and not an infringement. The case seemed to drag on with even the Judge remarking “that it was pathetic that his action should go on”. It appears the court case was awarded in favour of Sarah and she was paid court costs. She then had a nervous breakdown and recovered in 1928. She applied for an extension to the patent, but it appears it was not successful. There are numerous documents from the Patent Office stored at National Archives about the patent and extending it. The company continued to trade under various names until the 1990’s. Sarah died in 1952, aged 86. It is not known if the marriage survived given the previous court drama, but her husband is mentioned in the obituary. Even in death there were court cases over her will. Her husband, Ebenzer Randolphus also had a patent for “improvements in the construction of wrought metal wheels” in 1895.
Other Jenyns family members served in World War 2. QX 9809 Private Leslie Roy Jenyns was killed in action on New Guinea on 1st January 1943. He was the son of Herbert John, Edmunds eldest brother. His brothers Eric and Leslie also served. John Richard Thompson Jenyns also served and was discharged as a Major in the 15th Battalion. He was the son of Ebenezer, the older step-brother mentioned above. It appears he may have worked with Edmund in New Guinea.
More information on Edmund and the family would be ascertained if the files at National Archives about them were online, a lot are open, but not available online.
He was entitled to the 1914-15 Star, British War medal and Victory medal with oak leaf, 1939-45 Star, Pacific Star, 1939-45 War Medal with oak leaf and Australian Service Medal.
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