Edward Hugh
MARSH
1918 - 1943
Early Life
EDWARD HUGH MARSH, known by the family as Eddie, was born on the 17 October 1918 at Clare in Suffolk. He was the second son of William Charles and Martha Marsh (née Swallow). His parents were married in 1914 in Sudbury, Suffolk. Edward’s elder brother William Walter was born in 1916 at Clare, his younger sister Kathleen May Winnie was born on the 13 July 1923 and a younger brother, Kenneth Maurice followed on the 23 March 1927. Edward’s father was a Hostler (Horseman) on a farm in Spring Elm, Ashen, near Clare in 1921. The family moved from Suffolk in 1922 to The Lodge, Greenstead Hall, Halstead, where William was a stockman.
In 1939, the family were living at 53 Hyde Road, Chatham Green in Great Waltham. Kathleen was employed as a Ball Bearing machinist in a ball bearing factory, Hoffmans, in Chelmsford.
Military Life
Edward enlisted into the 1/4th Battalion Essex Regiment as a Private, Service No. 6013480 on the 5 June 1939, probably due to the recruitment drive by the then Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. The 1/4th Battalion was part of the 161st Brigade and was allocated a home defence rôle for coast and aerodromes.
Records indicates that Edward was most likely with “C” Company and he was to eventually become the batman for Lieutenant C. Hailes, M.C.
Mobilisation took place at Epping followed by a move on 2 December 1939 to Witham with companies serving at Maldon, North Weald and Hornchurch.
On 10 April 1940 the battalion moved to Wooler, Northumberland for defence duty on the Northumberland coast which was one of the most likely invasion sites.
On the 23 July 1940, the 1/4th Battalion received written orders confirming that it was now under War Office control and to mobilise for service overseas. Mobilisation was to be completed by midnight 31 July 1940 and the Battalion was to be moved to a tropical country.
On 5 August 1940, the battalion sailed on SS Monarch of Bermuda to Wilberforce Barracks, Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa, where they garrisoned until the 16 June 1941. The Battalion served with the 5th Indian Infantry Brigade, part of the 4th Indian Infantry Division throughout the war. The Regiment joined the ‘Bergensfjord’ and sailed for the Middle East on the 20 June 1941, disembarking at Durba.
The Brigade re-embarked on the ‘Ile de France’ and sailed on the 11 July for Suez, disembarking on the 27 July 1941 where they moved to El Tahang Camp remaining there until the 5 August when they were moved by train to Maaten Bagush, about 60 miles west of El Alamein in Egypt, but on 5 November 1941 they moved again to Famagusta in Cyprus where they spent the winter months as a mobile anti-invasion force with a short stay in Egypt during the spring of 1942.
A move to Karkur in Palestine then followed in April 1942 where they established camp at Karkur, with responsibility for the defence of two sub-sectors, Jenin and Nablus of the Palestine keep in order to create a defensive barrier against the threat of a German offensive through Turkey and Asia Minor.
On 11 June 1942 the battalion moved back to the western desert and had several short postings with a general retreat in the face of German advances eventually arriving at El Alamein on 29 June 1942. The Battalion were then heavily involved in the defence of El Alamein. By the end of the defence the strength of the battalion was 230 which was 645 less than their strength when they arrived in Egypt just a year earlier.
On 3 November 1942, a counter attack was mounted with the Battalion taking a central role which saw them punch a hole through German lines large enough to allow a column of tanks through that destabilised the German lines leading to their retreat effectively ending the battle of El Alamein. The next 6 months saw a continual advance with many small and larger actions before finally taking the hills of Medjez overlooking Tunis on 6th May 1943 as their last action of the North African Campaign.
The Desert war in Tunisia was a pivotal campaign in WW11, where the Allies including the British, American and French forces, fought against the Axis powers, primarily Germany and Italy. The campaign lasted from 1 November 1942 to 13 May 1943 and involved significant battles, such as the Battle of Kasserine Pass and the Battle of El Alamein. The Tunisian Campaign was characterised by intense armoured warfare, with both sides utilising advanced military technology and tactics. The campaign also marked the first time British and American forces were deployed together in combat.
The Battle of Enfidaville was an important line of defence for the Axis in North Africa. Whilst the British were preparing for ‘Operation Vulcan’, the Germans launched a spoiling attack on the 20/21 April, code name “Unternehmen Fliederblüte (Operation Lilac Blossom), in the hope to retake the heights on the edge of the Goubellet plain, including a pass on the north side of Djebel Djaffa and the nearby ‘banana ridge’.
The Germans attacked four points simultaneously in three groups. They surprised the British and broke through the positions on the ridge on a 12 miles sector to a depth of about 5 miles. The attack at first caused confusion to the British. The Germans, however, fell headlong into the main British positions ready for Vulcan including field artillery. In the ensuing bombardments, the Germans suffered heavy losses. British troops counter attacked and pushed the Germans back. After determined fighting the British retook Banana ridge and the Germans retreated on the 21 April. This was the last major German armoured attack in North Africa.
PLAN OF ATTACK FOR ENFIDAVILLE POSITION 19 APRIL 1943
TAKING THE BRIDGEHEAD 20 APRIL – 13 MAY 1943
Death and Memorial
At Enfidaville on the 21 April 1943 in the morning, the patrol was well dispersed and using ground well, they managed to cover about 400 yards, despite enemy mortars and machine gun fire. Lieutenant Hailes the officer in charge, was hit, but climbing a low ridge he was hit again. Despite intensive fire, a stretcher bearer attended to his wounds, assisted by Private Edward Hugh Marsh, his batman. Edward was killed whilst attending to his officer, aged 24 years.
Lieutenant Hailes handed over his compass and binoculars, and ordered the patrol to return with the valuable information they had gained, giving precise instructions as to the route. He asked to be left his pistol and ordered the men to leave him. The patrol was brought in by the senior NCO of the party. When the Army later broke into Tunis, they found Lieut. Hailes in a German hospital where he had been well looked after and indeed stated he owed his life to the treatment he received.
Previously, as an unknown soldier and then identified, he was reburied from an isolated site on the 4 February 1944 at Enfidaville War Cemetery Plot No. VI.B.31.
GRAVE PRIVATE EDWARD HUGH MARSH
The town of Enfidaville is approximately 10 kilometres south of Tunis, via the autoroute on the main coast road. The War Cemetery is one kilometre west of the town centre, on the road to Zaghouan. The Cemetery holds 1,551 Commonwealth burials of WW2, 88 of them are unidentified. His parents moved to St Osyth, Colchester.
Edward is remembered on the War Memorial in Great Waltham.
Edward was awarded the Africa Star with 8th Army Clasp and the 1939-1945 Star.
THE AFRICA STAR WITH 8TH ARMY CLASP
THE 1939-1945 STAR
On the 5 September 1947 members of the Great Waltham British Legion met in the Legion hut for the dedication of a new electric clock presented by the Chatham Green members in memory of Edward Marsh and Alfred Rush, both killed in North Africa.