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Name: BRADBURY, Edward Kinder VC (Lieut.)

image of individual

Birth Date: 16.8.1881 Altrincham, Cheshire

Death Date: 1.9.1914 NĂ©ry, France

First Date: 1905

Profession: 4th KAR

Area: Entebbe

Book Reference: EAHB 1906, North, EAHB 1907, Wikipedia

War Service: Royal Horse Artillery

School: Marlborough Coll., Woolwich Academy

General Information:

North - appt. Subaltern 4th Batt KAR Dec 1904; Firearms registered at Mombasa on way to Uganda Feb 1905
Killed in action, awarded posthumous VC 1 Sept 1914
Wikipedia: Born in August 1881, in Altrincham, Cheshire, he was the son of James Kinder Bradbury and Grace Dowling. He attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, as a cadet, passing out to join the Royal Artillery as a second lieutenant on 2 May 1900. He was promoted to full lieutenant on 3 April 1901, and in January 1902 was seconded for service with the Imperial Yeomanry in South Africa for the Second Boer War, and appointed a lieutenant with the 31st Battalion. The war ended six months later, and Bradbury resigned his appointment in the Imperial Yeomanry in November 1902, leaving Port Natal for Aden on the SS Dominion the same month. He was posted to the 127th Battery RFA in 1904. In early 1905 he was seconded to duties with the Foreign Office, during which time he appears to have served with the King's African Rifles. He returned to a regimental post in 1907,received his captaincy in 1910, and became an adjutant in February 1912, returning to normal duties in November. Bradbury rode his horse "Sloppy Weather" in the 1909 Royal Artillery Gold Cup, coming third; another of his horses, "Hot Water", competed in the 1911 Punchestown Festival, again coming third.
VC/GC Association on Internet: By 30 August 1914, the German drive towards Paris had pushed the British and French southwards across the River Aisne. On 1 September at Néry, on the southern edge of the Forest of Compiègne, ‘L’ Battery, Royal Horse Artillery, which had already distinguished itself at Mons, performed another notable brief holding action. Early that morning the German 4th Cavalry Division caught up with the British 1st Cavalry Brigade. ‘L’ Battery, which was bivouacked in an orchard, came under fire from German guns at a range of less than a thousand yards. Men and horses were blown to pieces. Calling for volunteers, Captain E K Bradbury succeeded in turning three guns on the enemy to return fire. Two were soon hit. Bradbury acted as layer for the remaining gun with Sergeant D Nelson as range setter. Nelson was soon wounded but refused to seek medical attention. When they were joined by Sergeant Major G T Dorrell, Bradbury set off to run the twenty yards to the ammunition wagon, when a shell blew off his leg. Despite this, he continued to direct fire until he was hit again. 1st Battalion The Middlesex Regiment and The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) relieved the British force and eventually captured twelve German guns. The British then withdrew with the surviving gunners and cavalrymen, just as the German infantry appeared. VC awarded for gallantry and ability in organising the defence of “L” Battery against heavy odds at Nery on 1st September. 

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