The AIF Project

Osmond Field EDDINGTON

Regimental number6734
Place of birthHobart, Tasmania
SchoolTrinity School, Hobart, Tasmania
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationElectrician
AddressHobart, Tasmania
Marital statusMarried
Age at embarkation32
Height5' 6"
Weight117 lbs
Next of kinWife, Mrs L.I. Eddington c/o Mrs M Lloyd, Tregear Street, Moonah, Hobart, Tasmania
Previous military serviceNil (previously rejected for military service due to a hernia)
Enlistment date16 May 1916
Place of enlistmentClaremont, Tasmania
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name12th Battalion, 22nd Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/29/4
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A56 Palermo on 30 September 1916
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll12th Battalion
FateKilled in Action 15 April 1917
Place of death or woundingBapaume, Somme Sector, France
Age at death32
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France

Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.

On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.

After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
65
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: Thomas and the late Louisa EDDINGTON; husband of Laura I. EDDINGTON, "Raalanghta", Main Road, Moonah, Tasmania
Family/military connectionsUncle: Gunner Gilbert O'Connor Eddington, killed in action, Ypres, Belgium
Other details

War service: Western Front

Embarked Melbourne, 30 September 1916; disembarked Devonport, England, 21 November 1916; marched into 3rd Training Bn, 22 November 1916.

Proceeded overseas to France, 17 December 1916; marched into 1st Australian Divisional Base Depot, Etaples, 18 December 1916.

Proceeded to unit, 23 December 1916; taken on strength of 12th Bn, 25 December 1916.

Killed in action, 15 April 1917.

Note on B.103, 'buried in isolated grave east of Lagincourt'.

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, EDDINGTON Osmond Field

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