BORN HULL 1881. HULL PAL LISTED ON THE NORTH EASTERN RAILWAY ROH. HE DIED OF WOUNDS IN HOSPITAL. LEFT A WIDOW AND CHILD. (HDM 26/5/16)
Edwin was the eldest of four children to Edwin and Rebecca Whitfield. He married on 7th February 1903 and he and his wife, Rebecca, lived at 11 Porter Place, Hull with their only child, a daughter, and yet another Rebecca. Edwin worked as a Rulleyman for North Eastern Railways, but queued outside City Hall on 19th September 1914 to enlist in the fight for King and Country joining the 12th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, ‘The Sportsmen’, 3rd Hull Pals. He was wounded on 16th April 1916 by the same grenade that tore through three of his comrades and took their lives also. Edwin was a fighter though. With shrapnel wounds to his arm, both legs and left eye he was evacuated to No.3 General Hospital at Le Treport. By 1st May his condition had deteriorated and doctors declared him dangerously ill. He hung in until 7.45pm on 20th May when he lost his last battle. Edwin Whitfield is buried in Le Treport Military Cemetery; he was 35 years old.
