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On Monday 28^th June 1915 at about 1.00pm First-Lieutenant Edward Watkin Colver, 455th  (West Riding) Field Company, Corps of Royal Engineers, [1st (West Riding) Field Company, 29 Division], was killed in action near Krithia in the Dardanelles as a result of being hit by shrapnel.  He was 23 years of age. His friend and brother officer Wilfred Seaman wrote the following letter to Ted’s father the next day.

Dear Mr Colver,

It is with the very greatest sorrow that I write to tell you that poor Ted was killed in action by shrapnel yesterday, about 1pm during a great advance by the 29th Division.

By the time you receive this letter I trust and expect you will have had official news from the War Office. I wish to convey to you and Mrs Colver and your family the heartfelt sympathy of the officers and men of the 1st West Riding Field Co R.E. in your great loss.

Poor old Ted died an instantaneous death, being hit in the right shoulder and chest by shrapnel which appears to have crossed inside the chest to the heart. At the time of his death, he was following Major Fisher, O.C. Royal Fusiliers 2nd Battn to whom he was attached as advising R.E. officer - he was in a small steep ravine running down towards the Aegean Sea, about half a mile South of Krithia, and was completely shielded from all fire, but shrapnel bursts.

His two orderlies were both badly wounded by the same shell. I saw one of the orderlies Sapper M.J.Howe (of Sheffield) at the R.A.M.C. Dressing Station, he was in great pain and could only tell me that his officer was killed outright by shrapnel. Sergeant C. Burnand, the N.C.O and the Sappers of No. 2 Section especially wish me to express their sympathy with Lieut Colver’s parents. He was well liked by every officer and man in the company and his loss is most keenly felt.

Immediately I received a report of Ted’s death I took out a party to search for him. I have collected some small things he carried on him, which are being sent home by the authorities. His kit and valise etc will be collected and an inventory made, after which Ordnance Department will despatch everything to you. I will return all letters which may arrive from now onwards, when I can do so, to the sender. Newspapers I will retain and distribute to his old Section, and Parcels according to contents, I will deal with as I think you would wish me to – Speaking personally, I have lost one of my very best friends and am quite unable to express my feelings on paper. I am absolutely heartbroken and feel this great loss most awfully – it is a very bitter ending to a long friendship – poor old Ted – he lived a clean and honest life, always worked hard and did his best for everybody– He died a soldier’s death serving his King right well, up to the last minute.

It was only a few days ago that the General in command of the Division, General de Lisle, expressed his pleasure at the work Ted was doing, and seemed very much impressed with his personality.

The C.R.E. also spoke highly of him, the thorough and keen way in which he performed his work and his general willingness – the C.R.E. is very cut up at the loss the 29th Divisional R.E. has sustained. Please excuse me if I have not expressed myself as I should. I do not like letter writing and am sure you will forgive me.

I personally helped to bury Ted’s body today after our Doctor had examined it. I am having a nice cross made and the grave is surrounded by a big barbed wire fence. The grave is in BRUCES RAVINE, the next ravine South of the one in which he was hit, and it faces East.

I have written Mother and Evelyn, who will no doubt let you see their letters, as I may have given them other details I have omitted in this letter. I must close now as Major Dodworth is away ill and I still have much to do. Please write and ask me about anything further you wish to know. I will always do anything I possibly can to help you –

With renewed sympathy to you and all your family I remain

Yours very sincerely, Wilfred.

Ted Colver is commemorated on the Helles Memorial, Turkey. The servicemen are commemorated in this way when there is no known burial for the individual, or in circumstances where graves cannot be individually marked, or where the grave site has become inaccessible and unmaintainable.

A Service of Remembrance was held in Sheffield Cathedral on 9^th October 1915 in memory of Lieutenant Edward Colver and others from the area who had lost their lives at that point in the War. He is also commemorated on the memorial board at his old preparatory school, the Sheffield Council Roll of Honour, the Ranmoor War Memorial and St John the Evangelist Church, Ranmoor Roll of Honour. Also in the church can be found the huge stained glass memorial window featuring Joshua and Gideon ‘given by Mr. and Mrs. R. Colver in memory of their two sons, Edward and Henry, both killed in the war.’

The Corps of Royal Engineers remains a key component within the British Army today.

Medals: Mentioned in Despatches [MiD], The 1914-15 Star, The British War Medal, The Victory Medal

1. Family letters reproduced by kind permission of Dr Patricia Altham, MA, PhD, great-niece of Ted Colver and the grand-daughter of Charlotte (Lottie) Colver.
2. Evelyn Mary Seaman was Ted Colver’s fiancée, and an Executor of his Will, who remained a spinster until her death in Norfolk in 1984.
3. The much talked about inspection finally took place just before their departure for Gallipoli. The memorial to the 29th Division, on the A45 at Stretton-on-Dunsmore between Coventry and Rugby, marks the spot where the troops were inspected by King George V.
4. Died 2^nd December 1916 aged 74 years.
5. Wilfred A Seaman finished the war as a Lieutenant-Colonel being awarded a MC. Having survived a gas attack he remained an invalid until his death in 1949 at the age of 58.
6. A nullah is an 'arm of the sea', stream, or watercourse, a steep narrow valley.
7. The River Clyde was later re-floated and renamed, and was used as a cargo vessel by various companies until finally scrapped in 1966.

A copy of Ted's story is available for download here.

See also the Commonwealth War Graves Commission permanent digital memorial,
‘Evermore: Stories of the fallen’ relating to:- First Lieutenant Edward Watkin COLVER