Edwin Stanley Andrews – Royal Marine Light Infantry, 1st Royal Marine Battalion, Royal Navy Division

Private Edwin Stanley Andrews – Royal Marine Light Infantry, 1^st Royal Marine Battalion, Royal Navy Division

Edwin Stanley Andrews was born in 1897 at Cockett, Swansea, the son of John Edmund Andrews and Mary Ann Reddall.

1901 Census

At the time of the 1901 Census, the Andrews family were residing at Florence House, Gorse Road, Cockett. John Andrews (47), born in London, was employed as a bricklayer, while his Staffordshire-born wife Mary Ann (46) managed the household.
Their children were John T. (15); William A. (10); Florence M. (7); Edwin S. (4); and Sydney R. (1).

1911 Census

By the 1911 Census, the family remained at Florence House, Gorse Road, Cockett. John Edmund Andrews (58) continued to work as a bricklayer, and his wife Mary Ann Semina (58) was recorded as residing with him.
Their children still present in the household were William Alfred (21), employed as a mason; Florence May (17), working as a fuse worker (Spurrier); Edwin Stanley (14); and Sidney Robert (11), both of whom were attending school.

Military Service and Death

Edwin served as a Private with the Royal Marine Light Infantry, joining the 1^st Royal Marine Battalion of the Royal Navy Division.

By February 1917, the Royal Marine battalions of the Royal Navy Division were holding front-line trenches in the Somme sector of the Western Front. Although the main Somme offensive had concluded in late 1916, the fighting did not cease. Instead, the winter months were marked by continuous trench holding, patrols, raids, and artillery exchanges, all carried out under extremely harsh conditions. The winter of 1916–1917 was among the coldest of the war, with flooded trenches, deep mud, and freezing temperatures adding to the constant danger from enemy fire.

On 17^th February 1917, while engaged in these hazardous front-line duties, Private Edwin Stanley Andrews was killed in action. His death occurred during a period of attritional warfare, where casualties were frequently sustained in localised actions rather than major offensives.

Having no known grave, Edwin is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France. The memorial bears the names of over 72,000 British and South African servicemen who died in the Somme area between 1915 and March 1918 and whose graves are unknown.

His death reflects the continued dangers faced by Royal Marines on the Western Front long after the great battles of 1916 had ended, and stands as a reminder of the persistent and deadly nature of trench warfare.