Edward Brooks

He seized an enemy machine gun and turned it on its own crew

Edward Brooks was born on 11 April 1883 in Oakley, Buckinghamshire, into a large working-class family. His father, Thomas Brooks, worked as a farm labourer, while his mother, Selina, raised a family of thirteen children. Edward grew up in a rural community but left home at about thirteen and went to Reading, where he found work at Huntley & Palmers. From an early age he showed a determination to enter military life. During the Second Boer War he attempted to volunteer for service but was rejected because he was too young.

When Britain entered the First World War in August 1914, Brooks returned to military service. In October he joined the 2/4th Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, part of the Territorial Force. He became company sergeant major, holding the formal rank of Warrant Officer Class II.

The battalion deployed to France in May 1916 as part of the 184th Infantry Brigade, 61st Division. Brooks therefore entered the difficult environment of the Western Front, where the battalion gained experience in trench warfare and participated in operations connected with the Somme sector. By the spring of 1917 it was operating near Saint-Quentin during the period of the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line.

On 28 April 1917, near the village of Fayet, Brooks took part in the action that would define his military career. His battalion was conducting a raid against German positions when the leading British wave was suddenly checked at close range by an enemy machine gun. The weapon threatened to halt the advance and inflict serious casualties.

Brooks was in the second wave. Acting on his own initiative, he rushed forward toward the machine-gun position despite the immediate danger. He killed one of the gunners with his revolver and bayoneted another. The remaining members of the gun crew fled, leaving the weapon behind. Brooks then turned the captured machine gun against the retreating enemy before carrying it back into the British lines.

His actions were officially recognised as having prevented many casualties and contributed significantly to the success of the operation. For this act of extraordinary battlefield courage and initiative, Brooks was awarded the Victoria Cross, Britain’s highest decoration for gallantry in the presence of the enemy. The award was officially announced in June 1917, and later that summer he received the Victoria Cross from King George V at Buckingham Palace.

The strain of active campaigning eventually affected his health. Late in 1917 he returned to Britain for medical treatment, suffering from rheumatic problems and the effects of wartime service. He later served with a reserve battalion before leaving military service in 1919.

In 1937 Brooks received the King George VI Coronation Medal. The commemorative decoration marked the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and became the fourth medal in the group associated with Brooks: the Victoria Cross, British War Medal, Victory Medal and King George VI Coronation Medal.

Edward Brooks died at his home in Oxford on 26 June 1944, aged sixty-one. He was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, Oxford. His Victoria Cross and other medals were preserved as part of the regimental heritage now associated with the Rifles collection in Winchester.

Official Victoria Cross citation: For most conspicuous bravery.

This Warrant Officer, while taking part in a raid on the enemy's trenches, saw that the front wave was checked by an enemy machine gun at close quarters. On his own initiative, and regardless of personal danger, he rushed forward from the second wave with the object of capturing the gun, killing one of the gunners with his revolver and bayonetting another. The remainder of the gun's crew then made off, leaving the gun in his possession.

C. S./M. Brooks then turned the machine gun on to the retreating enemy, after which he carried it back into our lines.

By his courage and initiative he undoubtedly prevented many casualties, and greatly added to the success of the operations.