Edward Barber (VC)

He charged ahead with grenades and forced the enemy to yield

Edward Barber VC ran ahead of his grenade party at Neuve Chapelle on 12 March 1915 and forced enemy soldiers to surrender before his comrades could catch up. A private in the 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards, he was killed during the fighting that brought him the Victoria Cross.

Born in Tring, Hertfordshire, on 10 June 1893, Barber attended the National School and belonged to the local Church Lads' Brigade. He worked as a bricklayer's labourer before enlisting in the Grenadier Guards in October 1911. By the summer of 1914 he was considering joining the police when his initial regular service ended. The outbreak of war instead took him to France with his battalion that autumn.

During the attack at Neuve Chapelle, he rushed forward throwing grenades. His sudden assault had such an effect that numerous defenders surrendered. When the rest of his party reached him, he was alone and unsupported among the prisoners. The official citation singled out the conspicuous bravery of this advance.

A sniper subsequently shot him, and he did not return from the battle. Initially reported missing, he was eventually presumed dead. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial. His mother received his Victoria Cross from King George V in November 1916. His campaign awards were the 1914 Star with clasp, British War Medal and Victory Medal.

Official Victoria Cross citation

For most conspicous bravery on 12th March, 1915, at Neuve Chapelle. He ran speedily in front of the grenade company to which he belonged and threw bombs on the enemy with such effect that a very great number of them at once surrendered. When the grenade party reached Private Barber they found him quite alone and unsupported with the enemy surrendering all about him.

Second Supplement to The London Gazette of 16 April 1915. 19 April 1915, Numb. 29135, p. 3815)