Gerald Edge

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Gerald Edge
Second World War
Awards
Mention in Despatches

Gerald Edge,

Second World War
. He is credited with the destruction of about twenty aircraft although there is some uncertainty regarding the exact total.

Born in

No. 605 Squadron during the Battle of France and the subsequent Battle of Britain, destroying a number of German aircraft. Appointed commander of No. 253 Squadron during the later stages of the campaign over Southeast England, he received serious wounds after his Hawker Hurricane
fighter was shot down on 26 September 1940. He had recovered by the end of the year and took command of No. 605 Squadron, leading it until September 1941. He served in training and staff posts for much of the remainder of the war. He left the RAF in late 1945, and took up farming in Kenya. He retired to England and died there in August 2000, aged 86.

Early life

Gerald Richmond Edge was born on 24 September 1913 in

No. 605 Squadron, he was promoted to flying officer in 1938.[1][2]

Second World War

Edge was called up for service in the

No. 605 Squadron, which operated Hawker Hurricane fighters, was tasked with the defence of the Royal Navy base at Scapa Flow.[3] On 10 April Edge and other pilots of the squadron engaged several Heinkel He 111 medium bombers to the east of Scapa Flow. Edge damaged three of these aircraft. He shared in the shooting down of a Dornier Do 17 medium bomber over the sea near Dumner Head on 9 May.[4]

Battle of France

A week after the 10 May

Courtrai the next day, also claiming a second as probably destroyed and a Bf 110 as damaged.[4]

On a sortie to the southeast of Dunkirk on 27 May, Edge shot down two Do 17s, one of these shared.[4] On the squadron's final sortie, a patrol over Dunkirk, several of its pilots were killed or shot down. This left Edge and one other pilot as the last of the original complement of aircrew that was serving with the squadron at the start of the war.[4]

Battle of Britain

After the campaign in France, No. 605 Squadron moved to

Thameshaven and also damaged a third. The squadron was involved in the interception of large bombing raids on 9 and 11 September and across these two days, Edge claimed to have shot down four Ju 88s, two He 111s with a third probably destroyed, and a Bf 109.[4]

Edge was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on 13 September.[7] Two days later, on what became known as Battle of Britain Day, he shot down a Do 17 and Ju 88.[4] On 26 September, Edge's Hurricane was damaged during an engagement with fighters over the English Channel. His aircraft in flames, Edge bailed out and came down in the sea off Dungeness. He was collected by a fisherman and, stricken with burns, was taken to hospital to Willsborough Hospital at Ashford. He returned to duty with No. 253 Squadron on 14 November but was still hampered by his injuries and placed on sick leave.[1][2]

On 5 December Edge, now recovered and returned to the acting squadron leader rank he had relinquished while on sick leave, was given command of No. 605 Squadron. Now stationed at

Baginton for four months. Its pace of operations throughout this period was reduced.[3]

Later war service

In September, just as No. 605 Squadron moved south to Kenley for greater involvement in the Circus offensive, Edge's squadron leader rank was made substantive.

mentioned in despatches in September, and on recovery of his health, served as a controller at Colerne. He was appointed commander of No. 84 Group Control Centre towards the end of the year.[4][9] He was promoted to temporary wing commander in January 1944.[10] Following the Normandy landings, Edge led his unit to France and his wing commander rank was made substantive in August.[2][11]

In the

Officer of the Order of the British Empire.[12] He subsequently served as a staff officer at the Air Ministry, working on operational requirements, until he left the RAF in late 1945, holding the rank of group captain.[4]

Later life

Returning to civilian life, Edge relocated to Kenya where he took up farming. In 1963, with his wife Sonia, he returned to England and settled at Pin Hills Farm near Inkberrow. He later moved to Evesham in Worcestershire, and he died there in August 2000. He was survived by his daughter; his wife had predeceased him in 1980.[13]

Edge is credited with having destroyed about twenty aircraft, one or two of which were shared with other pilots. He is believed to have probably destroyed three aircraft and damaged at least seven others. Poor record keeping at the units that he served with in 1940, and his own lack of attention to paperwork, means that there is some uncertainty regarding Edge's number of aerial victories.[4]

Notes

  1. ^ a b "The Airmen's Stories – S/Ldr. G R Edge". Battle of Britain London Monument. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Wynn 2015, p. 150.
  3. ^ a b c d e Rawlings 1976, pp. 486–487.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Shores & Williams 1994, pp. 245–246.
  5. ^ Rawlings 1976, pp. 357–358.
  6. ^ Bishop 2003, p. 304.
  7. ^ "No. 34945". The London Gazette. 13 September 1940. p. 5488.
  8. ^ "No. 35270". The London Gazette. 9 September 1941. p. 5224.
  9. ^ "No. 36175". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 September 1943. p. 4130.
  10. ^ "No. 36340". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 January 1944. p. 4130.
  11. ^ "No. 36712". The London Gazette (Supplement). 22 September 1944. p. 4386.
  12. ^ "No. 36866". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1945. p. 19.
  13. ^ "Battle of Britain Hero was Best of The Few". Worcester News. 10 August 2000. Retrieved 8 February 2025.

References

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