In memory of Edward Victor Edwards

Photo of Edward Victor EdwardsEdward Victor Edwards was born in 1885, writes Eryl Prys Jones. He was the only son of Griffith and Jane Edwards. He had three sisters: Catherine Mary, Elizabeth and Ellen. The family lived at Stabl Mail Isa (also known as Garth Aran Cottage), alongside the A5 road. It has been a ruin since the 1930s but at the time it was a rest stop for horses of the Irish Mail coaches.

Edward was working as a railway porter in Betws-y-coed in 1901. Later he was an accountant for a short time, before joining the Manchester Regiment in 1903, aged 18. He had risen to Corporal by 1905. He transferred to the 13th Hussars in 1906, serving as a Private in the Cavalry. He spent several years in India, and was a Sargeant in 1911.

He proceeded to France with the 13th Hussars in December 1914 and served on the Western Front for almost the entire duration of the First World War, and received the Military Cross for his bravery in battle.

Edward was commissioned to the Lincolnshire Regiment (1st Battalion) in early 1916. His family received a telegram in July 1916 reporting that he had been shot in the shoulder. He returned to the fray after treatment in London.

In February 1918, he told his family he had injured his ribs falling from his horse. In the same letter he wrote that he had been awarded the Bar – a clasp for the ribbon of his MC to denote that he had merited the same award a second time. He expected to receive this during his next leave, in March or April.

However, Captain Edwards died in the Somme region of France on 21 March 1918. He was 32 years old. The Red Cross informed his family that he was shot three times on that day. He was bandaged and was walking to the treatment station when he was struck by machine-gun fire. He fell to the ground, received water and was covered with an overcoat. There were no stretcher bearers available and he was too heavy for his comrades to carry, so he was left where he had fallen. His body was never found. He is remembered on the Pozières Memorial, near Albert, France.

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