Edmund Janes

Rank 
Second Lieutenant
Regiment 
Royal Garrison Artillery
Date of death 
13 May 1917
Age of death 
26
Address 
3 Gloucester Villas
George Lane
South Woodford
Woodford
Essex
E18 1LN
Address source 
1911 Census
Cemetery / Memorial 
France
Biography 

Born in 1891 at Woodford, son of Edmund (1st Class GPO Telegraphist, later Overseer Telegraphist) and Frances Mary Janes. 1891: With his family at Fir Villa Gordon Terrace, Maybank Road, South Woodford. 1901: A Scholar still with his family at Fir Villa Maybank Road. 1911: A Clerk Student with the Inland Revenue, still with his parents and siblings at 3 Gloucester Villas, George Lane, South Woodford. This was the address given in his Probate.

He initially joined the Royal Army Medical Corps as Private 61782, and went with them to France on 13th March 1916. Identified as Officer material, he was Commissioned into the Royal Garrison Artillery from 19-02-17.

His Battery was attached to the Canadian Forces 1st Division to give them increased artillery support for their attack and capture of Vimi Ridge in April 1917. The wider Battle of Arras continued into May.

It was in the Vimi area of Arras on 13th May 1917 that Edmund Janes and five others from his Battery were Killed in Action, and buried in the Nine Elms Cemetery, making up the bulk of interments for that date. This suggests they may have been victims of German counter barrage action, where artillery target opposing artillery positions.

Research by Adrian Lee, Local Historian

Sources:

Ancestry.com