Edwin Benjamin Eales was born in 1892 in Hammersmith, London.

In the 1911 census it tells us that he is living at 19 South Road, Luton with his widowed mother Kate 42, & sister Edith Florence 14, both are working as straw hat machinist. His elder brother Horace William 22, is a boiler maker in the iron foundry, whilst 6 year old Cyril Thomas is at school.

Edwin joined the 2nd Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment. In 1916 the Battalion were at the Somme & fought in several battles there, The Battle of Albert was one of them. During the first day, 11th July, they launched an assault on Trones Wood. Although no service record survives for Edwin, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission tells us that he was killed in action on this day, perhaps during the battle when the Bedfords advanced on the enemy.

Edwin is remembered on the war memorial at Thiepval.