THE GRAVE OF COMPANY SERGEANT MAJOR EDWARD BROOKS VC IN ROSE HILL CEMETERY, OXFORD, HAS BEEN REFURBISHED. |
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August 2017 |
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The grave of Company Sergeant Major Edward Brooks VC, 4th Bn, Oxfordshire & Buckingham Light Infantry, has been cleaned and refurbished in Rose Hill Cemetery, Oxford. |
For the award of the Victoria Cross. [ London Gazette, 27 June 1917 ], St Quentin, France, 28 April 1917, Company Sergeant Major Edward Brooks, 2 / 4th Bn, Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry.
For most conspicuous bravery ( Fayes, France ). 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 bayoneting 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. Edward Brooks was invested with his Victoria Cross by King George V at Buckingham Palace on the 21st July 1917. |
Iain Stewart, 9 August 2017