Edward Cooper (VC)

Major Edward “Ned” Cooper VC

Edward Cooper was born at Portrack, Stockton-on-Tees, on 4 May 1896, the son of William Edward Cooper, a millwright, and his wife Annie. One of nine children, Cooper left school at thirteen and worked first as an errand boy and later for the Stockton Co-operative Society, eventually taking charge of a horse-drawn fruit cart.

Cooper enlisted in the King’s Royal Rifle Corps in 1914. He was posted to the 12th Battalion and went to France in 1915, serving at Loos, on the Somme and in the Ypres Salient. His leadership was recognized early, and he was promoted to sergeant in March 1917.

On 16 August 1917, during the Battle of Langemarck, part of the Third Battle of Ypres, German machine guns firing from a concrete blockhouse stopped the battalion advancing on Cooper’s left and inflicted heavy casualties on his own men. Cooper immediately led four soldiers toward the position under intense fire. When their rifle fire failed to silence the blockhouse, he ordered the men to remain approximately 100 yards away and provide covering fire.

Cooper then continued alone. Running directly at the blockhouse, he reached an opening and fired his revolver inside. The machine guns stopped and the garrison surrendered. Cooper captured forty-five German soldiers and seven machine guns. His action removed a position that threatened to halt the wider advance and saved many British lives.

For his courage and initiative, Cooper was awarded the Victoria Cross. The award was announced in the London Gazette on 14 September 1917. The official citation concluded that his action had prevented a potentially serious reverse while saving a great number of lives. The Gazette, Victoria Cross awards of 1917⁠

Cooper’s bravery was not confined to the action for which he received the VC. Accounts from former comrades record that he had previously volunteered to rescue wounded men under fire. In 1918 France awarded him the Médaille militaire, reportedly in recognition of his gallantry in assisting wounded soldiers.

After the war, Cooper returned to the Co-operative Society. He married Iris in 1919, and they had three sons. He progressed to managerial positions in Sunderland and Stockton and became deeply involved in civic, church, veterans’ and charitable organizations. He served for more than twenty years as a Justice of the Peace.

During the Second World War, Cooper helped establish the Home Guard unit at Thornaby. He was appointed a captain in the 3rd North Riding Battalion in 1941 and promoted to major in December 1943 to command G Company of the 9th North Riding Battalion.

Cooper received the Freedom of Middlesbrough in 1944 and was made an Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees on 24 July 1985. He died following a heart attack on 19 August 1985, aged eighty-nine. His Victoria Cross and accompanying medals are privately owned by the Cooper family and displayed on loan at Preston Park Museum and Grounds in Stockton-on-Tees. Rifleman’s Museum biography⁠ | Stockton heritage account⁠