William Mordaunt Marsh Edwards

Major William Mordaunt Marsh Edwards, VC

William Mordaunt Marsh Edwards was born on 7 May 1855 at Hardingham Hall, Norfolk, England. He came from a well-established family and was educated privately, later attending Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge. Rather than complete a university degree, he chose a military career, receiving a commission as a Sub-Lieutenant on the Unattached List in March 1876. The following year he joined the 74th Highlanders, later associated with the Highland Light Infantry.

Edwards served in the Straits Settlements and Hong Kong before seeing active service in Egypt during the Anglo-Egyptian War of 1882. At the Battle of Tel-el-Kebir on 13 September 1882, he was serving as a Lieutenant with the 2nd Battalion, Highland Light Infantry. During the assault on the Egyptian defensive works, Edwards led a party of men forward to storm a redoubt. Advancing ahead of his party, he rushed alone into an enemy battery, killed the artillery officer in charge, and was then struck down by a gunner wielding a rammer. He was in grave danger until three men of his regiment arrived and rescued him. His conduct in this action earned him the Victoria Cross, Britain’s highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy.

His Victoria Cross was gazetted on 13 February 1883, and he was invested by Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle on 24 February 1883. For his service in the Egyptian campaign, Edwards also received the Egypt Medal with the Tel-el-Kebir clasp, the Khedive’s Star, and the Ottoman Order of the Medjidie.

After the Egyptian campaign, Edwards continued his army career. He served in India from 1884 to 1887 and later held the appointment of Adjutant of the 3rd Battalion, Highland Light Infantry. He was promoted to Captain in 1887 and Major in 1895, retiring from the Army in 1896.

In 1889, while in India, Edwards married Alice Norton, daughter of General Edward Nugent Norton of the Indian Staff Corps. They had one son, Bartholomew Mordaunt Marsham Edwards. Following his military career, Edwards was appointed to His Majesty’s Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms in 1899 and also served as a Deputy Lieutenant for Norfolk.

Major William Mordaunt Marsh Edwards died at Hardingham Hall on 17 September 1912, aged 57. He was buried in St George’s Churchyard, Hardingham, Norfolk. His Victoria Cross group was later acquired privately by the Lord Ashcroft Collection, while replicas are displayed at the Royal Highland Fusiliers Museum in Glasgow.

William Mordaunt Marsh Edwards is remembered for a brief but extraordinary act of courage at Tel-el-Kebir: a young officer advancing ahead of his men, entering an enemy battery alone, and surviving only through the swift intervention of comrades who followed him into danger.