Private Edwin Albert Bave

Edwin Albert Bave was born in Battersea on 27 March 1899. He was the only child of George Bave, a joiner and carpenter, and his wife Eliza Mary. In 1911 the family lived at 87 Sugden Road, Lavender Hill. Edwin was only 15 when war broke out but on 9 August 1916 he enlisted in the 2nd Battalion of the 13th East Surrey Regiment. His service number was 13610. He was under age at the time but claimed to be a labourer aged 19 years and 5 months. He was in the regiment for 7 months before he was found out and discharged, although with a good character report.

Edwin turned 18 in 1917, by which time conscription had been introduced for most single men between the ages of 18 and 41. He had re-enlisted in Camberwell and was a private in the 2nd Battalion of the Grenadier Guards. His service number was 29854 and the family had now moved to 60 Haydons Park Road, Wimbledon.

The 2nd Battalion initially formed part of the 4th Guards Brigade, 2nd Division, landing in Le Havre on 13th August 1914. In August 1915 the battalion transferred to the Guards Division, forming part of the 1st Guards Brigade where it remained for the rest of the war. The 2nd Battalion fought in one of the first battles of the Somme - the Battle of Arras – which commenced on 28 March 1918. On the first day of battle it came under attack from the Germans at Boisleux-Saint-Marc. The battalion’s war diary records that Private Bave was killed in action the following day, two days after his 19th birthday.

He is buried in Arras, Department du Pas-de-Calais and commemorated on the Arras Memorial Bay 1, Course B, Stone 9. He is also remembered on the South Wall of the United Apostolic Church (formerly St Peter’s) in Kohat Road, Wimbledon.