Edward Thomas Chapman

Edward Thomas Chapman began life underground in a Welsh coal mine. He entered history on a German hillside, where he advanced alone with a Bren gun against determined enemy troops.

Born at Pontlottyn, Glamorgan, on 13 January 1920, Chapman left school at fourteen and followed his father into the mining industry. When the Second World War engulfed Europe, he enlisted in the Monmouthshire Regiment on 19 April 1940. He later served through the North-West Europe campaign, fighting from Normandy into the Low Countries and Germany.

His defining moment came on 2 April 1945 near the Dortmund-Ems Canal. Chapman’s company was ordered to capture the steep, wooded ridge of the Teutoburger Wald. As his section moved along a narrow track, German machine-gun fire struck at close range, causing heavy casualties and confusion.

Chapman immediately took control. Seizing a Bren gun, he advanced alone while firing from the hip and forced the enemy to withdraw. When German troops returned with machine guns, grenades and bayonet charges, he repeatedly stopped their attacks. At one stage, he fired while lying on his back to protect soldiers bringing him more ammunition.

The danger was not over. Chapman saw that his company commander had been left wounded in the open. Under intense fire, he carried the officer approximately fifty yards toward safety. A sniper fired again, killing the officer and wounding Chapman in the hip. Chapman nevertheless refused evacuation and returned to the fighting until the position had been restored two hours later. His official citation praised his “outstanding gallantry and superb courage” and credited his bravery with helping secure the vital ridge.

The Victoria Cross was announced in The London Gazette on 13 July 1945. King George VI presented the decoration to Chapman at Buckingham Palace on 31 July.

Chapman returned to civilian employment after the war, but military service remained important to him. He rejoined the Territorial Army in 1948 and continued serving with the Monmouthshire Regiment. In the 1953 Coronation Honours, he received the British Empire Medal, Military Division. The official notice identified him as Sergeant Edward Thomas Chapman, VC, service number 22243251, of the Monmouthshire Regiment, Territorial Army. Unlike his Victoria Cross award, the Gazette entry did not publish a detailed individual citation.

He eventually reached the rank of company sergeant major and retired from the Territorial Army in 1957. His surviving medal group also includes the 1939-45 Star, France and Germany Star, Defence Medal, War Medal 1939-45, Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal and Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal. The complete group is held by the Lord Ashcroft VC Collection.

Edward Thomas Chapman died at New Inn, Monmouthshire, on 3 February 2002, aged eighty-two. He was buried in Panteg Cemetery. His story remains one of the most powerful examples of courage from the final weeks of the war in Europe: a miner’s son who faced overwhelming danger, protected his men and refused to leave the battlefield while they still needed him.