VICTORIA CROSS EDWIN SWALES
Edwin Swales’ staunch sense of duty led to his posthumous award of the Victoria Cross, explains Graham Pitchfork
Born in Natal in South Africa, Edwin ‘Ted’ Swales enlisted in the Natal Mounted Rifles in 1935. He reached the rank of Warrant Officer 2nd Class in the citizen force before being mobilised at the beginning of World War Two. He saw active service in Eritrea) before his battalion moved to North Africa where it fought during the retreat to El Alamein at the end of 1941.
