Denis Ashley Edwards

This story  and photos are shared by the Trust with kind permission from Mavis Williams, Researcher and James Edwards, paternal great nephew of Denis Edwards.

Denis Ashley Edwards was born on the 15th of March 1917 in the Chelsea registration district and baptised on the 28th of April 1917 at St. Martins-in-the-Fields, London He was the son of Ashley & Martha Mary Edwards (née Brockwell) who had married in the same Parish Church on the 3rd of October 1914. Ashley Edwards was working as an insurance broker but after war was declared in 1914 he had joined the the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Service as an Able Seaman on H.M.S. President from the 1st of January 1915, then Petty Officer from the 1st of July 1915 and finally Chief Petty Officer from 6th May 1916 . He was demobilisation on the 5th of March 1919.

Their first child, Mervyn Ashley Edwards had been born in the June quarter of 1916,  and another son, Gordon Ashley Edwards, born in the June quarter of 1918 completed the family.

We see them all on the 1921 census, which was taken on the 19th of June 1921, living at 31, Hanover Gate, St Marylebone, London. Ashley Edwards was still working as an insurance broker but was now an employer for his business. A General Domestic Servant was also living with them.

James Edwards tells us that all the brothers attended King's College School Wimbledon, where he believes they all took part in the school’s cadet force. Denis Edwards went to Cambridge University and graduated with a BA as a Barrister-at-law. Whilst at Cambridge, he served as an Officer Cadet in the Cambridge University contingent of the Officer Training Corps (OTC) and was gazetted as a 2nd Lieutenant on the 16th May 1939.

Denis would put his law training to use as James has a letter from him in late 1940 where he talks about taking part in two court martials, acting on behalf of the accused and for the prosecution.

When he was still a student, Denis went to Kingston, Jamaica, returning in 1936 on the 'Costa Rica' to Plymouth on the 12th September 1936.

Like his brother, Denis was commissioned into the Royal Artillery and he kept a diary in the early years of the war. He was posted to North Africa with 64th Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery and arrived in Kantar on December 30th 1940.

One letter he wrote to his parents when he was en route to Egypt in December 1940 shows what he was like.

My dearest old parentage,
I am in effect rewriting this letter because owing to bungling by an idiot my previous one was not despatched at our second and most recent port of call. This will seriously hamper deliveries, but it can’t be helped and so here goes.

I am sorry to say that most of the rest of this letter will consist of asking various favours, which I should be glad if you could do for me. I hate having to ask you to do all these things because for all I know you may have a hell of a lot to do or something, but here goes in the hopes that you may be able to manage some of the things.

My next detail is of a very odd and different character. It has occurred to me that during our wandering it may at times be easier for officers to get off cables home than it will be for other ranks and a scheme was therefore born in my mind that if I gave you the addresses of a couple of men in whom I have a particular interest you could write to their parents on receipt of a cable from me saying all well or something and tell dear mama that little Clarence was O.K. This is not a totally original idea and I believe Betty Syer is doing it for the officers, but I approve myself and provided you think it is a good idea I reckon you might be doing no small amount of good. The particular addresses are as follows:
Mrs Templeman
298 Liverpool Road
Islington N.1.

This is the name of my batman’s mother. She married again and my batman’s name is actually Douglas Salter. He also has a twin, Ronald, and the same goes for him as far as possible, but he is in another part of the regiment and I may not always know about him. The other address is:
Miss B. Walker
c/c Mrs Hazell
“Enderley”
Kingshill Road, Dursley, Glos.

This is the name of my Survey Sgt’s fiancée. He is of course no longer my Sgt. Strictly speaking, but he is a good boy and has done some good work for me in his time. He tells me that his parents are having trouble from air-raids and his fiancée will connect his parents wherever they may be on receipt of a letter from you. His name by the way is Sgt. Ballinger. I’m afraid I don’t know his Christian name, but if I find out before I post this I will put it in. I put the whole scheme to you merely as a scheme for you to adopt or discard as you please. Please don’t feel under any obligation about it, because you may feel some deep-rooted objection to it that I hadn’t thought of.

He first fought in the Western Desert campaign and was then sent Greece in February 1942 and was evacuated from there to Crete in April and sent back to Egypt. After that he went to Syria and back to fight in the Western Desert campaign for a second time. He had another spell in Syria before being sent to the Western Desert for a third and final time where he was involved in the Battle of El Alamein and ended up in Tripoli. Whilst in the Western Desert he was wounded on the 19th April 1943 but was able to remain on Duty.

This photo was taken of him whilst he was out in North Africa.

Denis Edwards was to find himself fighting on D-Day and laid down his life for our freedom. He was serving with 211 Battery, 64 Medium Regiment but was wounded on the 4th August. He was evacuated back to the UK and taken to St Hugh's Military Hospital. His death certificate tells us that he died in St. Hugh’s College, Military Hospital, Oxford of head injuries on the 11th of August 1944 ‘Due to War Operations.’ He was awarded the Military Cross which was gazetted on the 21st December 1944.

British Normandy Memorial - Additional Information

Denis' older brother, Mervyn, was also killed in the Second World War. He had received his commission in the Royal Artillery, Territorial Army, in December 1937. He met and married Anne Townsend Storr in the September quarter of 1939. But in May of 1940, she was informed that her husband, 2nd Lieutenant Mervyn Ashley Edwards, had died of wounds in France on the 22nd of May 1940 whilst serving with the 57 (East Surrey) Anti-Tank Regiment. He was awarded the Military Cross on the 24th of May 1940.