WWI hero Capt. Edward Bradbury finally gets the recognition he deserved. A plaque that will forever immortalize his bravery during the Great War was unveiled in his home village of Bowdon, Greater Manchester during a military parade.
According to accounts, Capt. Edward Bradbury had been dubbed ‘the bravest of them all’ when he refused to leave his troops despite of being injured severely by an exploding shell.
On the fateful day of September 1, 1914, Capt. Edward Bradbury and his troops became the receiving end of a German troops’ surprise ambush. The WWI officer was shot by the enemy’s 12 artillery guns and received fatal wounds. However, his team heard him shouting not to let the Germans hear him screaming. Then, he asked for morphine to numb down the pain he was feeling.
Once this was done, Capt. Edward Bradbury hauled himself to the only available artillery gun and fired out at the German troops. He was able to damage four of their heavy artillery equipment before he succumbed to his death after he had used up all the shells of that gun.
Capt. Edward Bradbury was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross (VC) by King George himself. It was his mother who received the distinction. To date, that VC is in display at the Imperial War Museum.
We Didn’t Know!
Unfortunately, however, while the British armed forces and country recognized the sacrifice Capt. Edward Bradbury did during that fateful day in the Great War, his family, apparently, is ignorant of his bravery.
In fact, his death was basically forgotten by his own home village.
And 100 years to his death, it is just now that his story has once gain come to light.
A distant relative, Jane Knight, dug up into the family’s information was ecstatic upon finding out that their was a VC in the family. She even went to the Imperial War Museum to see the medal of Capt. Edward Bradbury. Along with the displayed military distinction were weapons that the WWI officer might have used during the war.
According to another relative, 81-year-old Shirley Graham, they are delighted to find a WWI hero from their family and happy that he got the honor he rightly deserved, even if it’s already 100 years late.
Added to that, his home village now has a WWI hero from among its list of people. As Mrs. Graham puts it, “our relative was such a very good man”.