BORN HULL 1885. YOUNGER SON OF ELIZABETH MITCHELL, OF 22, SOVEREIGN PLACE, WILLIAM STREET, HULL (ARMY ADDRESS). HE HAD ONE BROTHER, JOHN AND TWO MARRIED SISTERS.
HE MARRIED AT HULL, ON 16/08/1909. HIS WIFE, ANNIE PITMAN, LIVED AT, 143, HESSLE ROAD, HULL (1911 CENSUS ADDRESS); 342, SOUTH BOULEVARD, HULL (ARMY ADDRESS), AND 47, BEAN STREET, HULL AND LATER 342, SOUTH BOULEVARD, HULL (WAR PENSION ADDRESSES). THEY HAD TWO DAUGHTERS, EDITH, BORN 10/06/1914 AND ANNIE, BORN, 28/06/1916.
HE WORKED AS A HOTEL WAITER & THEN A HULL POLICEMAN. DESCRIBED AS 5 FOOT, 5 INCHES TALL, 36.5–38.5 INCH CHEST, GOOD VISION, GOOD PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT.
HE ENLISTED IN HULL, ON 14/10/1914. SERVED WITH THE 1ST EYR. TRAINED AT WITHERNSEA, IN 1915, WHERE HE WAS FINED FOR BEING ABSENT ON PARADE AND OVERSTAYING HIS PASS.
POSTED TO FRANCE, ON 13/08/1916. WOUNDED IN THE THIGH, ON 17/04/1917. WENT ABSENT FOR 3 WEEKS, BETWEEN, 05/05/1917 TO 23/05/1917 (LOST 44 DAYS PAY). RETURNED TO ENGLAND, ON 12/06/1917. IN HOSPITAL UNTIL 10/08/1917. RE-JOINED HIS UNIT, ON 17/01/1918. WENT ABSENT AGAIN, ON 24/03/1918, UNTIL 04/04/1918. (GIVEN 114 DAYS DETENTION, WHICH WAS REMITTED, AS HE WAS REQUIRED FOR OVERSEAS SERVICE).
POSTED TO FRANCE, ON 12/04/1918. TRANSFERRED TO THE 11TH EYR. KILLED IN ACTION, ON 29/09/1918, AGED 33. HE HAD SERVED IN THE ARMY FOR 3 YEARS AND 352 DAYS. HE IS COMMEMORATED ON THE TYNE COT MEMORIAL, BELGIUM.
“A LOSS NOT YET REALISED” (HULL DAILY MAIL, 22/10/1918).
Pte. 27902 Edward Barber Mitchell, 11th (‘Hull Tradesmen’s’) Bn. East Yorkshire Regiment, killed in action 29th September 1918, is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial. His unit, part of the 31st Division, was taking part in the Battle of Ypres during the final advance in Flanders. http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/gwa/item/4212?CISOBOX=1&REC=8
Hull Pals Memorial Post. Private, EDWARD BARBER MITCHELL 27902. Born in 1885, Edward was the second of three children to Elizabeth Mitchell. A Hotel Waiter by trade, he lived with his wife, Annie, at 143 Hessle Road, Hull. Edward enlisted at City Hall joining the 11th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, ‘The Tradesmen’, 2nd Hull Pals. He was killed in action on 29th September 1918 as the 11th Battalion sat is support trenches while the 10th attacked along the north east edge of Ploegsteert Wood. The British sent up a creeping barrage for the 10th to attack behind, but the Germans merely responded in kind laying their fire down with deadly accuracy on the 11th who weren’t even attacking that day. Like many men who died during this attack Edward’s body was never recovered and his name is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial. He was 33 years old.
