Edward Warner

Private Edward Warner VC (18 November 1883 – 2 May 1915) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was a private in the 1st Battalion, The Bedfordshire Regiment, British Army during World War I, who was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry during the defence of Hill 60 on 1 May 1915. Before World War I Born and raised in St Albans, Ted had started his working life as a straw hat finisher, enlisting into the ranks of the Bedfordshire Regiment late in 1903 as Private 7602. Service in India until 1908 followed, at which time Ted returned to England when the battalion finished its tour of foreign service that year. His term in the regulars complete, Ted became a Reservist and spent time employed by the Deep Well Boring Works, for the St. Albans council and the Post Office Telephones Dept. War service When war was declared in August 1914, Private Warner was mobilised from the Reserves and rejoined the 1st Battalion who were based in Ireland at the time. He arrived on the Western Front with the battalion on 16 August 1914 and fought in the Battle of Mons, the Battle of Le Cateau, during the rearguard actions of the British Army's Retreat from Mons, at the First Battle of the Marne, the First Battle of the Aisne, the Battle of La Bassée and the First Battle of Ypres. Despite the intensity of those early battles and the long casualty list his battalion sustained, Ted came through it all with just a poisoned hand. After the winter's lull in fighting and Ted's battalions' involvement in the Christmas truce of 1914, the campaigning season had started once again and he found himself in the line around Hill 60, south-east of Ypres. He 'had been due to complete his service in May 1915 but with dependants, 75-year-old widowed mother Charlotte and new fiancée Maud Burton, waiting at home, was doubtless contemplating whether to extend his service or take the well-earned, honourable discharge that would be offered to him in the coming weeks. Having come through the dreadful battle on Hill 60 in April, he had written to his mother days earlier; "You will see in the papers that we have been in a tight corner. I think it’s the hottest place I have ever been in but, thank the Lord, I have been spared to get through alright. We have lost a lot killed and wounded. It was a proper death trap.