Edgar's Story.
EARLY LIFE
Edgar Collins was born in Macclesfield in 1890, the only son of Lydia and Edward George Collins, a coachman of 6 Barker St, Macclesfield. In 1901 Edgar was living at that address with his parents and siblings Lillian (14) and Nellie (6). By 1911 Edgar had left school and was employed as a van driver for a 'plain and fancy box works'.
WW1 SERVICE
Edgar enlisted in October 1916 as Private 262102 with the Royal Army Service Corps, but after training at Woolwich he was transferred to an infantry battalion. Private Edgar Collins was drafted overseas in June or July 1917, at some stage being transferred to the King's (Liverpool Regiment).
Private Edgar Collins lost his life when he was hit by a shell on 20th September 1917. His death was reported in the Macclesfield Times on 12th October:
DIED A NOBLE DEATH - "STUCK TO DUTY WITHOUT A MURMUR"
News has been received by Mrs Collins, 6 Barker St, Macclesfield, that her son, Pte Edgar Collins, King's Liverpool Regt, has been killed in action. The sad news was contained in... [a] letter from a comrade, Rifleman E Ashe: "I am very sorry to have to tell you that your son Edgar is dead. He died a noble death... we... stood side by side during four counter-attacks by the enemy, who could not break through... one unlucky shell dropped within three feet of us and killed Edgar and wounded three others... the concussion threw me over... He was killed instantaneously... he died without any pain... I had grown to regard him as my chum, for he was the type of man one could admire. He stuck to his duty without a murmur or complaint, and we have had a few trying times. His body was taken away and buried behind the line."
The late Pte Collins was a native of Macclesfield and twenty-seven years of age, being an only son. In his boyhood he received his education at the Mill Street Wesleyan day school... and was connected with the Church Street West United Methodist Chapel. Pte Collins was formerly employed at Messrs Adderley's, and at the time of joining at Army, exactly twelve months ago this week, was engaged as a box cutter at the Park Lane Mill of Messrs Josiah Smale and Son. The deceased soldier joined the Army Service Corps, but after a course of training at Woolwich was posted to an infantry battalion. He was drafted out to France three months ago and was subsequently transferred to the King's Liverpools. Pte Collins sustained a slight gunshot wound in the shoulder in August, and after treatment in a French hospital returned to the line, being back again within a fortnight of being hit.
COMMEMORATION
Rifleman Edgar Collins has no known grave and is commemorated on Panel Ref. 31 to 34 of the Tyne Cot Memorial in Belgium. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission holds casualty details for Rifleman Edgar Collins, and he is listed on the Imperial War Museum’s Lives of the First World War website.
In Macclesfield, Rifleman Edgar Collins is commemorated on the Park Green, Town Hall, and St Michael's Church war memorials.
SOURCES
GRO (England & Wales) Index: Births
Census (England & Wales): 1901, 1911
Commonwealth War Graves Commission website
Lives of the First World War website
Soldiers Died in the Great War (Transcription, Find My Past)
Macclesfield Times: 12 October 1917, 23 September 1921 (photo supplement)
Research by Rosie Rowley, Macclesfield.