Brigadier General Edward Fowell Martin, (22 August 1875 – 22 September 1950) was an Australian accountant, public servant, and a senior

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

officer who served in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Early life and career

Edward Fowell Martin was born in

Launceston, Tasmania Launceston () is a city in the north of Tasmania, Australia, at the confluence of the North Esk River, North Esk and South Esk River, South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River, Tasmania, Tamar River (kanamaluka). As of 2021, the Launc ...

, on 22 August 1875. The family moved to New South Wales where Martin was educated at King's College,

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, approximately south-west of Sydney and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters patent by Queen Victor ...

. He worked as an accountant in a bank before joining a woolbroking firm. Martin joined the Army Service Corps as a private in 1898. He was commissioned in 1903 and reached the rank of major on 1 August 1913.

First World War

On 18 August 1914 Martin joined the

Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force The Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF) was a small volunteer force of approximately 2,000 men, raised in Australia shortly after the outbreak of World War I to seize and destroy German wireless stations in German New Guin ...

(AN&MEF). The force sailed for

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

on . On 14 September 1914 he led the advance on Toma, where the German acting governor had established his headquarters. After the German surrender, Martin landed at Madang with a half company of infantry and a half company of naval reservists for a garrison and took charge there. He was District Administrator until February 1915, after which he returned to Australia where his appointment to the AN&MEF was terminated on 4 March 1915. On 7 May 1915 Martin joined the Australian Imperial Force as a major in the 17th Battalion. The battalion left for Egypt on 12 May 1915, and Martin became second in command of the battalion on 2 June. The battalion arrived at

Anzac The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was originally a First World War army corps of the British Empire under the command of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the ...

on 19 August where it was committed to the Battle of Hill 60, taking many casualties. In September the battalion took over at Quinn's Post. Martin contracted dysentery and was evacuated to Egypt on 13 September. He returned on 8 December, just before the evacuation. The 17th Battalion departed

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

for

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

on 23 March 1916. Martin was appointed to command the 17th Battalion with the rank of lieutenant colonel on 19 April in place of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Arthur Goddard, who had been evacuated to Australia sick. The 17th Battalion was committed to

Pozières Pozières (; ) is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography The commune is situated on the D929 road, northeast of Amiens between Albert and Bapaume, on the Pozières ridge. Southwest of the village ...

in July and took heavy casualties. The battalion remained in the line, participating in the capture of the Pozières. For his performance—and that of his battalion at Pozières, Martin was mentioned in despatches and awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

(DSO). Martin was evacuated with the flu on 23 December 1916, returning to the 17th on 17 February 1917. During the German counterattack at Lagnicourt in April, Martin's headquarters was caught up in the fighting. At

Menin Road Menin may refer to: *Menin, the French name for the Belgian town of Menen *Menin, a little village in the municipality of Cesiomaggiore, Italy *Menin or MEN1, a tumor suppressor associated with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 *Měnín, village ...

on 20 September, he moved it into a shell hole in the front line so as to better supervise the defence effort. Martin was mentioned in despatches twice more in 1917 and he was made a

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George I ...

(CMG). Martin was made a brevet lieutenant colonel in the AMF on 24 September 1917. On 9 March 1918 Martin assumed temporary command of the 7th Brigade and was promoted to temporary colonel on 29 March. He relinquished command on 3 May and immediately took over command of the 5th Brigade. On 28 June the position became permanent and Martin became a temporary brigadier general. He was promoted to colonel in the AMF on 9 July. On 31 August 1918 the 5th Brigade took Mont St Quentin; the capture of Mont St Quentin by the men of the 2nd Division was widely regarded as the finest fighting feat of the war. For his part in the 1918 fighting, Martin was mentioned in despatches three more times and was made a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregi ...

(CB) on 3 June 1919. He left for Australia on 12 July, arriving in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

on 26 August. He appointment to the AIF was terminated on 8 December.

Post-war

In 1924 Martin moved to

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

where he became an accountant with ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

'' newspaper. In 1932 he was appointed

sergeant-at-arms A serjeant-at-arms or sergeant-at-arms is an officer appointed by a deliberative body, usually a legislature, to keep order during its meetings. The word "serjeant" is derived from the Latin , which means "servant". Historically, serjeants-at-a ...

of the

Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House, Perth, Parliament House in the Western Australian capi ...

. He carried the mace for the next eighteen years. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he helped organise the Volunteer Defence Corps in Perth. He died on 22 September 1950.

References

*Ross Mallett
Edward Fowell Martin
''General Officers of the First AIF'', adfa.edu.au *Matthew Higgins

''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

'', Volume 10, Melbourne University Press, 1986, pp 426–427. {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Edward 1875 births 1950 deaths Australian generals Australian military personnel of World War I Australian Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Australian Companions of the Order of the Bath Australian Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George People from Launceston, Tasmania Volunteer Defence Corps officers Military personnel from Tasmania

Early life and career

First World War

Post-war

See also

References