Edward Symons

Gunner Edward Symons – Royal Garrison Artillery, 143^rd Siege Battery

Early Life and Family

1911 Census

The available information on Edward Symons is limited, but the 1911 Census provides a glimpse into his life before the war.

Edward Symons was born in 1887 in Barnstaple, Devon. By 1911, he was living in Mayals Green, near Swansea, having married Edith Norman. The census records Edward, aged 24, employed as a Farm Labourer, and Edith, aged 23, at home with their young daughter Jessie, aged one. The small household at Mayals Green reflects the quiet rural life that many families in the Swansea area lived before the upheaval of the First World War.

Military Service

With the outbreak of war, Edward Symons enlisted in the Royal Garrison Artillery (R.G.A.), the branch of the Army responsible for operating the heavy guns that supported front-line troops. He served as a Gunner with the 143^rd Siege Battery, a unit equipped with large-calibre howitzers used for long-range bombardment of enemy positions, supply lines, and fortifications.

The 143^rd Siege Battery in 1918

By 1918, the 143rd Siege Battery was deeply involved in the Hundred Days Offensive, the final Allied push that led to victory. The battery formed part of the XIII Corps, Third Army, and was engaged in a series of major actions, including the Battle of the Scarpe (August 1918) and the Battle of the Canal du Nord (September 1918).

During this period, the unit advanced behind the infantry, moving its heavy guns forward to new positions as German forces retreated. The work was dangerous and exhausting — involving constant exposure to enemy shellfire, gas, and aerial attack. Gunners like Edward Symons operated their guns under almost continuous fire, often in hastily prepared positions amid the ruins of towns and villages in northern France.

It was during this phase of operations, as the British Army pushed eastward beyond the Somme towards Cambrai, that Gunner Symons lost his life.

Death and Burial

Edward Symons
St. Sever Cemetery Extension
credit - findagrave

Gunner Edward Symons died on 25^th September 1918, aged 31, during the closing weeks of the war. The proximity of his date of death to the Battle of the Canal du Nord (27^th September–1^st October 1918) suggests he was wounded or fell ill during the preparatory bombardments leading up to the assault.

He was buried at St. Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen, France — one of the largest Commonwealth burial grounds in the country. The cemetery served the base hospitals located in Rouen, where many soldiers evacuated from the front succumbed to their wounds or illness. His interment there indicates that he had been transported from the battlefield to one of these hospitals for treatment before his death.

Legacy

Though little is recorded about his personal life beyond the census, Gunner Edward Symons stands among the many men who left their homes and families in rural Wales and England to serve overseas. His name is commemorated on the Blackpill War Memorial, situated at Clyne Chapel, Swansea, ensuring his sacrifice is remembered within the local community where he once lived.

His service with the Royal Garrison Artillery reflects the steadfast courage of those who manned the heavy guns — soldiers whose endurance and sacrifice were crucial to the success of the Allied offensives in the final year of the Great War.