A couple of years ago I was researching Hurdcott Camp, a #WW1 training camp in Wiltshire as part of my @ww1australiamap project when I stumbled across a FB page created by the Granddaughter of an Australian soldier, Ben Edgcumbe, 12th Field Artillery Brigade... #Thread 1/11

Australian Field Artillery, AIF. Ben was a keen photographer & his diaries had been stored in a box under a bed for decades. They charted Ben's experiences 1917-1919, incl time in England & the Western Front. Many of the photo's were of Hurdcott and all were new to me... 2/11

What I found fascinating were the pictures taken inside the huts. The detail & clarity was superb. When looking at them recently, I saw what appeared to be a regimental service number written on a kit bag, visible on the right hand side of the photograph below... 3/11

The number appeared to read 28447. I decided to search for this number via the @naagovau website &
this record popped up, showing that a Ernest Melbourne Schmidt held this service number as part of the Australian Imperial Force... 4/11

Ernest Melbourne Schmidt enlisted on 25th May 1916, aged 18 years & 11 months. He was a farm labourer, single & came from Malvern, Melbourne. His terms of service were to be for the duration of the war plus 4 months. He was assigned to be a Gunner with the Australian... 5/11

Field Artillery & later became a Driver. He left Melbourne on a ship 'Ulysees' on 25th October 1916, arriving in Plymouth on 28th December. He marched into Larkhill, Salisbury Plain on 29th December 1916 and must have spent several months in England training before... 6/11

arriving in France on 4th Oct 1917. Now this is the very interesting bit & confirms that his regimental number is correct. Records show that as part of the 12th Australian Field Artillery Brigade (the same unit as Ben Edgcumbe) he marched into No 4 Command Depot... 7/11

Hurdcott Camp on 23rd Apr 1919 as part of 'Quota 35' and left England on the same ship as Ben, a confiscated German boat named 'Swakopmund', departing England on 15th June 1919 and arriving back in Melbourne on 2nd August. 8/11

He was discharged from the AIF on 9th Sept 1919. In the Ben Edgcumbe records there is mention of Schmidt as part of the 'Quota 35' although the initials & service number do not match, but it must be him. It is fascinating to think that sleeping under that blanket in the... 9/11

photo is Ernest Melbourne Schmidt. He almost certainly appears in some of the photo Ben took as Quota 35 would have been kept together from their time in France, right through the repatriation process & then onto the boat back to Australia. Tragically, Ernest Schmidt's... 10/11

records show that he died on 15th Dec 1923, he would only have been about 26 years of age. The records state 'cause of death unknown'. I hope you find this as interesting as I did! Caroline's FB page is here. https://www.facebook.com/benedgcumbe/  END