Edward Watkins was a local coal miner, the son of Edward and Emily Watkins of 58 Markham Crescent, Oakdale. He enlisted into the 4th (Service) Battalion, South Wales Borderers, which formed a vital component of the 40th Brigade within the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (MEF). The overarching goal of this campaign was to seize the mountainous, heavily defended Gallipoli Peninsula in south-west Turkey to gain total strategic control over the critical Dardanelles Straits.

The battalion first disembarked at the southern tip of Gallipoli in July 1915. Shortly thereafter, on 4 August, they made landfall at Anzac Cove. On 6 August, despite being entirely unblooded in major combat, these young Welsh troops successfully led a daring brigade assault on Damakjelik Ridge—a vital spur running off the dominant Sari Bair landmass—stubbornly holding the high ground against fierce Turkish counter-attacks.

On 21 August, the battalion launched a costly, unsuccessful frontal attack on the fortified heights of Scimitar Hill, marking the bloody conclusion of the Battle of Sari Bair. In a testament to the sheer scale of the fighting, over 400 officers and men out of the initial 775 who landed on 4 August had been killed, wounded, or lost in the intense summer heat on that rocky, inhospitable terrain.

Private Watkins (13206) was severely wounded during these high-altitude assaults and was evacuated to an allied hospital ship anchored off the coast. He tragically died of his wounds at sea on 24 August 1915, aged 23, while on board the HM Hospital Ship Gloucester Castle. Having no known terrestrial grave, he is permanently commemorated on the historic Helles Memorial, Gallipoli, Turkey.