6th Field Company, Australian Engineers, 6587

Born 1889 - Died 01 August 1916, aged 27

Ezra Dean was born in Thulston in 1889, the seventh child of village blacksmith John Newton Dean and his wife Mary (nee Smith). By the time the 1911 census took place, 21 year old Ezra was working as a shoeing smith with his father John.

In 1912 Ezra married Gertrude Beardsley Eaton at the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in Borrowash. The following year, their only son John Ezra was born. Shortly after this, the young family emigrated to Brisbane, Australia.

Ezra's attestation papers into the Australian Imperial Force, show that he volunteered for service on 22 September 1915, his unit being the 4th Reinforcement, 6th Field Company, Australian Engineers.
His Company embarked from Sydney on 11 March 1916 onboard the troopship HMAT Orsova. They disembarked at Alexandria on 14  April 1916 where they joined other reinforcements before leaving for France.

After disembarking at Marseilles on 18 May, the Company later marched  out to join the unit in early July. Ezra was wounded in action  on 31 July and died from his wounds the following day. He is buried at the Warloy-Baillon Communal Cemetery Extension in Picardie, France. Following  the news that a memorial service had taken place for him in Australia, a report of his death then appeared in the Derby Daily Telegraph on 02 February 1917.

Ezra was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal