Lt. Charles William Culmer Edge

Charles William Culmer Edge was born on the 22nd June 1918 and was the son of the Reverend L. Edge, the Methodist Minister of Downham Market in Norfolk. Charles, known as 'Bill' to his friends and comrades had been studying history at Balliol College, Oxford in 1940, but like many of his contemporaries, had decided undertake his duty and join the Armed Forces. After a period at an Officer Cadet Training Centre, 138287 2nd Lieutenant Edge was commissioned into the South Wales Borderer's Regiment, as Gazetted on the 5th July 1940.
It is not known exactly when Lt. Edge transferred to the 13th Battalion of the King's Regiment, but he does feature in a photograph depicting the battalion's officers dated April 1941. He travelled with the 13th King's to India aboard the troopship Oronsay which left British shores on the 8th December 1941. Bill Edge began his Chindit training at the Saugor Camp in July 1942, initially being posted as Administration Officer to 5 Column.
By the time the column crossed the Chindwin River on the 15/16th February 1943, Bill was Bernard Fergusson's Cipher Officer and marched with the Major at the head of the column during those early weeks behind enemy lines in Burma. By the first week of March, 5 Column were making their way to the area around Bonchaung village, close to the Mandalay-Myitkhina railway line. Bonchaung Gorge had been chosen by Brigadier Wingate as a potential target for sabotage during Operation Longcloth and it now fell to 5 Column to carry out this attack.
Just prior to reaching Bonchaung, a scouting party from 5 Column under the command of Captain Tommy Roberts were ambushed by a Japanese patrol on the outskirts of another village called Kyaik-in. A major firefight ensued and casualties were taken on both sides, thankfully with the enemy coming off slightly the worse. Bill Edge was wounded at Kyaik-in, suffering a gun-shot wound to his shoulder blade. Fortunately, the column doctor, Bill Aird was at hand to tend to wounded and he dressed Lt. Edge's shoulder and sent him back to the main body of the column, bivouaced some three miles further down the jungle track.
Although the wound would hamper his movements for the rest of the expedition, Bill Edge recovered enough to continue his duties as Cipher Officer, and 5 Column, along with the rest of the Chindit Brigade pushed further east and deeper into occupied territory. According to Major Fergusson, by March 20th, Bill had recovered sufficiently to win the column's literary competition, held as the unit bivouaced close to the Bawbe Chaung. From the pages of Fergusson's book, Beyond the Chindwin:
We spent two consecutive nights in one bivouac. During this period of enforced idleness, we amused ourselves in various ways. I wrote a short story, which alas never got back to India. I look on it much as a fisherman looks upon the fish that got away. You wouldn't believe how good it was! Bill Edge and Philip Stibbe held a literary competition on the lines of those in the New Statesman: the following prize-winning entry came from Bill:
It is not known exactly when Lt. Edge transferred to the 13th Battalion of the King's Regiment, but he does feature in a photograph depicting the battalion's officers dated April 1941. He travelled with the 13th King's to India aboard the troopship Oronsay which left British shores on the 8th December 1941. Bill Edge began his Chindit training at the Saugor Camp in July 1942, initially being posted as Administration Officer to 5 Column.
By the time the column crossed the Chindwin River on the 15/16th February 1943, Bill was Bernard Fergusson's Cipher Officer and marched with the Major at the head of the column during those early weeks behind enemy lines in Burma. By the first week of March, 5 Column were making their way to the area around Bonchaung village, close to the Mandalay-Myitkhina railway line. Bonchaung Gorge had been chosen by Brigadier Wingate as a potential target for sabotage during Operation Longcloth and it now fell to 5 Column to carry out this attack.
Just prior to reaching Bonchaung, a scouting party from 5 Column under the command of Captain Tommy Roberts were ambushed by a Japanese patrol on the outskirts of another village called Kyaik-in. A major firefight ensued and casualties were taken on both sides, thankfully with the enemy coming off slightly the worse. Bill Edge was wounded at Kyaik-in, suffering a gun-shot wound to his shoulder blade. Fortunately, the column doctor, Bill Aird was at hand to tend to wounded and he dressed Lt. Edge's shoulder and sent him back to the main body of the column, bivouaced some three miles further down the jungle track.
Although the wound would hamper his movements for the rest of the expedition, Bill Edge recovered enough to continue his duties as Cipher Officer, and 5 Column, along with the rest of the Chindit Brigade pushed further east and deeper into occupied territory. According to Major Fergusson, by March 20th, Bill had recovered sufficiently to win the column's literary competition, held as the unit bivouaced close to the Bawbe Chaung. From the pages of Fergusson's book, Beyond the Chindwin:
We spent two consecutive nights in one bivouac. During this period of enforced idleness, we amused ourselves in various ways. I wrote a short story, which alas never got back to India. I look on it much as a fisherman looks upon the fish that got away. You wouldn't believe how good it was! Bill Edge and Philip Stibbe held a literary competition on the lines of those in the New Statesman: the following prize-winning entry came from Bill:
If elephant droppings are brown and hard
Your plans for bivouac will be marred;
But if elephant droppings are soft and moist,
Then you'll find water to quench your t'oist.
Your plans for bivouac will be marred;
But if elephant droppings are soft and moist,
Then you'll find water to quench your t'oist.
Seen below is a gallery of images in relation to the above section of this narrative, including a map of the area around Kyaik-in. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Later in March, the columns from Northern Section congregated for a large supply drop at a village named Baw, located close to the western banks of the Shweli River. After a mix-up between two groups from 8 Column in the defence of this supply drop, an officer had been demoted to the ranks by Brigadier Wingate and sent over to 5 Column for the remainder of the expedition. Captain Joseph Coughlan of the King's Regiment had been good friends with Bill Edge during their time together in England and India and in the book, Beyond the Chindwin, Bernard Fergusson recounts how much Lt. Edge helped Coughlan in coming to terms with his predicament.
Directly after leaving the area around Baw, 5 Column were given orders to create a diversion for the rest of the Chindit Brigade, which had now become trapped in a three-sided bag between the Irrawaddy and Shweli Rivers to the west and north and the Mongmit-Myitson motor road to the south. Brigadier Wingate had instructed Fergusson to trail his coat and lead the Japanese pursuers away from the general direction of the Irrawaddy and in particular the area around the town of Inywa, where Wingate hoped to re-cross the river.
By March 28th, 5 Column had reached the village of Hintha which was situated in an area of thick and tight-set bamboo scrub. Any attempt to navigate around the settlement proved impossible; reluctantly, Major Fergusson decided to enter the village by the main track and check for the presence of any enemy patrols. He unluckily stumbled upon such a patrol and a fire-fight ensued. Fighting platoons led by Lieutenant Stibbe and Jim Harman entered the village in an attempt to clear the road of Japanese. These were met in full force by the enemy and many casualties were taken on both sides.
After the engagement at Hintha, many groups of men became separated from the main body of 5 Column. Thankfully, most of these men came back to the fold early the following morning, including Lt. Edge who had escaped the village in the company of Lt. Gerry Roberts and his platoon. Having carried out their decoy duties, 5 Column then proceeded to make their own way out of Burma. By April 10th, Fergusson and the remaining men from 5 Column found themselves on the southern banks of the Irrawaddy River. In order to give themselves the best chance of making India, the Major split this larger group into three dispersal parties. Lt. Edge had asked to be allocated to the dispersal party led by his longtime friend from the King's Regiment, Captain Tommy Roberts. This request was granted by Major Fergusson and Bill became the second officer for the party consisting of around 30 soldiers.
After saying farewell to Major Fergusson and the other men from 5 Column, Captain Roberts and his group attempted to cross the Irrawaddy using small native boats, but only one party succeeded in making the crossing that evening. The remaining men settled down to build rafts from bamboo and other materials available to them in the hope of crossing the river the next day. All this took place close to the Burmese village of Zinbon, which unfortunately for the group was visited by a Japanese motor boat patrol several times each day. The small group that had got over in the native boats included Bill Edge; with him were Lance Sergeant Edward Gunn, Lance Corporal H. Roberts and Ptes. Albert Blease and Joseph Lewis. Also with this group were a few Gurkha Riflemen who had become mixed in with 5 Column during their journey out from Hintha.
From a witness statement given by Lt. Edge after returning to India in April 1943:
After much searching we found three, small, waterlogged boats. I was sent across at dusk with these boats. The current was very strong and the boats became separated and we were swept downstream. When I reached the west bank, I had only my boatload of two men. It was impossible to communicate with Captain Roberts as the river was three quarters of a mile wide and I had no torch.
Directly after leaving the area around Baw, 5 Column were given orders to create a diversion for the rest of the Chindit Brigade, which had now become trapped in a three-sided bag between the Irrawaddy and Shweli Rivers to the west and north and the Mongmit-Myitson motor road to the south. Brigadier Wingate had instructed Fergusson to trail his coat and lead the Japanese pursuers away from the general direction of the Irrawaddy and in particular the area around the town of Inywa, where Wingate hoped to re-cross the river.
By March 28th, 5 Column had reached the village of Hintha which was situated in an area of thick and tight-set bamboo scrub. Any attempt to navigate around the settlement proved impossible; reluctantly, Major Fergusson decided to enter the village by the main track and check for the presence of any enemy patrols. He unluckily stumbled upon such a patrol and a fire-fight ensued. Fighting platoons led by Lieutenant Stibbe and Jim Harman entered the village in an attempt to clear the road of Japanese. These were met in full force by the enemy and many casualties were taken on both sides.
After the engagement at Hintha, many groups of men became separated from the main body of 5 Column. Thankfully, most of these men came back to the fold early the following morning, including Lt. Edge who had escaped the village in the company of Lt. Gerry Roberts and his platoon. Having carried out their decoy duties, 5 Column then proceeded to make their own way out of Burma. By April 10th, Fergusson and the remaining men from 5 Column found themselves on the southern banks of the Irrawaddy River. In order to give themselves the best chance of making India, the Major split this larger group into three dispersal parties. Lt. Edge had asked to be allocated to the dispersal party led by his longtime friend from the King's Regiment, Captain Tommy Roberts. This request was granted by Major Fergusson and Bill became the second officer for the party consisting of around 30 soldiers.
After saying farewell to Major Fergusson and the other men from 5 Column, Captain Roberts and his group attempted to cross the Irrawaddy using small native boats, but only one party succeeded in making the crossing that evening. The remaining men settled down to build rafts from bamboo and other materials available to them in the hope of crossing the river the next day. All this took place close to the Burmese village of Zinbon, which unfortunately for the group was visited by a Japanese motor boat patrol several times each day. The small group that had got over in the native boats included Bill Edge; with him were Lance Sergeant Edward Gunn, Lance Corporal H. Roberts and Ptes. Albert Blease and Joseph Lewis. Also with this group were a few Gurkha Riflemen who had become mixed in with 5 Column during their journey out from Hintha.
From a witness statement given by Lt. Edge after returning to India in April 1943:
After much searching we found three, small, waterlogged boats. I was sent across at dusk with these boats. The current was very strong and the boats became separated and we were swept downstream. When I reached the west bank, I had only my boatload of two men. It was impossible to communicate with Captain Roberts as the river was three quarters of a mile wide and I had no torch.
Lt. Edge and his reduced party of four set off westwards for India. He had been separated from Sgt. Gunn and Ptes. Blease and Lewis and only L/Cpl. Roberts remained from those mentioned previously. Incredibly, Bill was to stumble upon Major Fergusson and his dispersal party just three days later on the 14th April at a village named Saga. From the book, Beyond the Chindwin:
Kachin guides brought in Bill Edge, with two British and two Gurkha soldiers, all of whom had been with Tommy Roberts. How Bill had avoided the Japs we could not make out; he too had come through Shiamdebang, but had seen nothing until he walked into the Kachins, who had brought him safely to us. Bill was very tired. His wound was not bothering him much now, but he had covered a long distance in the last couple of days.
He had found two dugout canoes, and Tommy had detailed Bill to take these across with the first party. His canoe had sunk around 100 yards from the far bank and he and his two men had managed to struggle ashore. He knew Tommy would be waiting for him, but had no means of getting in touch with him. Bill waited until after dawn, but seeing no sign of life across the river, decided to set out for India with his men, a compass, but no map. During the rest of the march back to the Chindwin my party and I became very weary, but weary as we all were, the weariest of all was Bill Edge.
Major Fergusson and his dispersal party re-crossed the Chindwin River on the 24th April, close to the village of Sahpe, just a few short miles to the north of where 5 Column had forded the river on the outbound journey ten weeks previously. The Chindit survivors then enjoyed a prolonged period of rest and recuperation back in India, including several weeks in the care of Matron Agnes McGearey at the 19th Casualty Clearing Station at Imphal. It was during this time that Bill sat down with the Army Investigation Bureau and recorded his witness statements in regards to the men that had been left behind on the journey back from the Irrawaddy. Two of these statements can be seen in the gallery below, alongside a map of the area around Sahpe on the Chindwin River. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Kachin guides brought in Bill Edge, with two British and two Gurkha soldiers, all of whom had been with Tommy Roberts. How Bill had avoided the Japs we could not make out; he too had come through Shiamdebang, but had seen nothing until he walked into the Kachins, who had brought him safely to us. Bill was very tired. His wound was not bothering him much now, but he had covered a long distance in the last couple of days.
He had found two dugout canoes, and Tommy had detailed Bill to take these across with the first party. His canoe had sunk around 100 yards from the far bank and he and his two men had managed to struggle ashore. He knew Tommy would be waiting for him, but had no means of getting in touch with him. Bill waited until after dawn, but seeing no sign of life across the river, decided to set out for India with his men, a compass, but no map. During the rest of the march back to the Chindwin my party and I became very weary, but weary as we all were, the weariest of all was Bill Edge.
Major Fergusson and his dispersal party re-crossed the Chindwin River on the 24th April, close to the village of Sahpe, just a few short miles to the north of where 5 Column had forded the river on the outbound journey ten weeks previously. The Chindit survivors then enjoyed a prolonged period of rest and recuperation back in India, including several weeks in the care of Matron Agnes McGearey at the 19th Casualty Clearing Station at Imphal. It was during this time that Bill sat down with the Army Investigation Bureau and recorded his witness statements in regards to the men that had been left behind on the journey back from the Irrawaddy. Two of these statements can be seen in the gallery below, alongside a map of the area around Sahpe on the Chindwin River. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
In the autumn of 1943, Lt. Edge rejoined the 13th King's at their new head quarters in Karachi and assisted in the re-building of the battalion after the loss of so many of its men during the first Wingate expedition. In early March 1944, the Viceroy Lord Wavell visited the 13th King's at Karachi. He had wanted to meet the the battalion for sometime in order to congratulate them on their performance in Burma the year before and to present some of the men with various gallantry awards. As was normal practice on these occasions, a Guard of Honour was arranged for the Viceroy's visit and Lt. Edge was chosen to command this group of soldiers. The War diary entries describing this occasion and a photograph of the Guard of Honour can be viewed in the gallery below. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
In September 1944, Bill was finally and formally promoted to the rank of Captain and was awarded the role of battalion Intelligence Officer. Many of the King's Regiment officers had been promoted whilst inside Burma in 1943, however, most of these field promotions were not recognised formally until several months later. Seen in the gallery below is the War diary entry for Lt. Edge's promotion to Captain on the 21st September 1944. You will notice on the same page that Captain Joseph Coughlan, who had been so cruelly demoted by Brigadier Wingate on Operation Longcloth, had now recovered his status and indeed, had been promoted to Acting-Major and Adjutant of the battalion.
In September 1944, Bill was finally and formally promoted to the rank of Captain and was awarded the role of battalion Intelligence Officer. Many of the King's Regiment officers had been promoted whilst inside Burma in 1943, however, most of these field promotions were not recognised formally until several months later. Seen in the gallery below is the War diary entry for Lt. Edge's promotion to Captain on the 21st September 1944. You will notice on the same page that Captain Joseph Coughlan, who had been so cruelly demoted by Brigadier Wingate on Operation Longcloth, had now recovered his status and indeed, had been promoted to Acting-Major and Adjutant of the battalion.
Back home in Downham Market, Bill's wartime exploits had been recorded in the local newspaper, the Downham Gazette and Journal, which formed part of the larger Thetford and Walton Times. On Saturday 12th June 1943, the newspaper carried the following story:
Hunting Japs in the Burmese Jungle
Lieutenant W. Edge, younger son of the Reverend L. and Mrs. Edge of Downham Market, was one of a party of British soldiers who have recently returned to their base after three months spent harassing the Japanese deep behind enemy lines in Burma. Their work had been recently described by the BBC and in a national newspaper. The paper's special correspondent on the Burma border described the party which was led by Brigadier Wingate, as Wingate's Follies.
Whilst referring to Bill Edge, the correspondent said: It was hard to believe that this soldier was one of Wingate's Follies, as he had previously been studying history at Balliol College. The correspondent continued: When I approached him, he put aside a book he had been reading, entitled Medieval Power and then began to tell me his story:
We went without food for days and then killed three black and muddy buffaloes, cut them up into strips and ate them. Mules were also part of the staple diet, but it was not nice having to kill them. We could not shoot them for fear of arousing the Japs, so we had to stun them instead. Mule meat tastes sweet, but the soup is quite good. One time we stumbled across a party of Japs and a battle took place with fourteen Japanese killed.
Mr. and Mrs. Edge knew that their son was on some unusual mission as an officer had written to them by airgraph, informing them that Lt. Edge was unable to communicate with them temporarily. Actually they received their first message from him for some months on the day that the story of his adventures was first published in the press.
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On the 22nd April 1944, the Gazette reported the following, as part of their continuing story of Lt. Edge and his time with the 13th King's in India:
Lieutenant Bill Edge of Downham, has written a letter to his parents describing his experiences as commander of the guard at the Government House in Karachi. This was during an official two-day visit paid by the Viceroy, Lord Archibald Wavell, who received each of the officials and officers present, including Lt. Edge for a short personal conversation. Lt. Edge, who was a member of the now famous, Wingate Follies said that the Government House garden was full of English flowers and a beautiful site.
Hunting Japs in the Burmese Jungle
Lieutenant W. Edge, younger son of the Reverend L. and Mrs. Edge of Downham Market, was one of a party of British soldiers who have recently returned to their base after three months spent harassing the Japanese deep behind enemy lines in Burma. Their work had been recently described by the BBC and in a national newspaper. The paper's special correspondent on the Burma border described the party which was led by Brigadier Wingate, as Wingate's Follies.
Whilst referring to Bill Edge, the correspondent said: It was hard to believe that this soldier was one of Wingate's Follies, as he had previously been studying history at Balliol College. The correspondent continued: When I approached him, he put aside a book he had been reading, entitled Medieval Power and then began to tell me his story:
We went without food for days and then killed three black and muddy buffaloes, cut them up into strips and ate them. Mules were also part of the staple diet, but it was not nice having to kill them. We could not shoot them for fear of arousing the Japs, so we had to stun them instead. Mule meat tastes sweet, but the soup is quite good. One time we stumbled across a party of Japs and a battle took place with fourteen Japanese killed.
Mr. and Mrs. Edge knew that their son was on some unusual mission as an officer had written to them by airgraph, informing them that Lt. Edge was unable to communicate with them temporarily. Actually they received their first message from him for some months on the day that the story of his adventures was first published in the press.
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On the 22nd April 1944, the Gazette reported the following, as part of their continuing story of Lt. Edge and his time with the 13th King's in India:
Lieutenant Bill Edge of Downham, has written a letter to his parents describing his experiences as commander of the guard at the Government House in Karachi. This was during an official two-day visit paid by the Viceroy, Lord Archibald Wavell, who received each of the officials and officers present, including Lt. Edge for a short personal conversation. Lt. Edge, who was a member of the now famous, Wingate Follies said that the Government House garden was full of English flowers and a beautiful site.
After the war, Bill Edge took up a teaching position at the Whitgift School in south Croydon. In January 2014, I received the following email contact from Geoffrey Elliot, a former pupil at the school:
I am a little old now to remember clearly, but I do recall Bill Edge as a master at Whitgift School. I think he taught French and may have been a Housemaster too in the 1950s. He was a nice man, quietly disposed, whose only mention of his WW2 experience was to pass on one rainy afternoon, that he had once written a poem which began: If Elephant droppings are round and hard! Heaven knows how that ever came up in lessons. I spotted your evocative site when I was researching a totally different topic. So it seems serendipity is at work here.
It would seem that Bill was also involved with the school's Combined Cadet Force, if this entry from the London Gazette, dated 21st November 1950 is anything to go by:
General list: Whitgift School CCF contingent: 138287 Lt. Charles William Culmer Edge to be full Lieutenant as of 26th September 1950.
Bill was also a well respected sportsman during his time in south London, playing rugby for nearby Reigate RFC. On their website for alumni, he is described as a hard tackling and fast centre. According to the daughter of his one-time Chindit comrade, Captain Tommy Roberts of the King's Regiment, in later life Bill was to witness the horrific tragedy of the Pan Am 103 air disaster (December 1988), when a terrorist bomb destroyed the aircraft over his then family home in Lockerbie, Scotland. One can only imagine the horror of being involved in such an event.
Bill Edge sadly died on the 6th January 2002, aged 83 years.
I am a little old now to remember clearly, but I do recall Bill Edge as a master at Whitgift School. I think he taught French and may have been a Housemaster too in the 1950s. He was a nice man, quietly disposed, whose only mention of his WW2 experience was to pass on one rainy afternoon, that he had once written a poem which began: If Elephant droppings are round and hard! Heaven knows how that ever came up in lessons. I spotted your evocative site when I was researching a totally different topic. So it seems serendipity is at work here.
It would seem that Bill was also involved with the school's Combined Cadet Force, if this entry from the London Gazette, dated 21st November 1950 is anything to go by:
General list: Whitgift School CCF contingent: 138287 Lt. Charles William Culmer Edge to be full Lieutenant as of 26th September 1950.
Bill was also a well respected sportsman during his time in south London, playing rugby for nearby Reigate RFC. On their website for alumni, he is described as a hard tackling and fast centre. According to the daughter of his one-time Chindit comrade, Captain Tommy Roberts of the King's Regiment, in later life Bill was to witness the horrific tragedy of the Pan Am 103 air disaster (December 1988), when a terrorist bomb destroyed the aircraft over his then family home in Lockerbie, Scotland. One can only imagine the horror of being involved in such an event.
Bill Edge sadly died on the 6th January 2002, aged 83 years.

School Days, University and Teaching at Whitgift
Bill Edge was awarded an entrance scholarship to attend Kingswood School, Bath in 1931 where he received a wonderful and wide-ranging education. He was an active student at Kingswood (a member of School House) and attained school prizes in French, English and Literature. Bill enjoyed a host of sporting activities, including tennis, athletics, gym and of course Rugby Union. Judging from the long list of his sporting achievements recorded in the school magazine, Bill was an able and talented all-rounder, without being the master of any one discipline in particular, as this entry in the Kingswood School Magazine illustrates:
1st XV Roundup April 1936: C. W. C. EDGE (Centre three-quarter) Blazer. Handles the ball well, and uses his opportunities intelligently. His tackling is reliable.
In 1931, Bill was elected Secretary of the Junior Scientific Society and also took on the role of Prince Perivale in the school's portrayal of A.A. Milne's play, The Ivory Door. In his later days at Kingswood, he held the posts of Tennis Club Secretary and President of the Senior Literary Association. In 1936, Bill, aged just seventeen, obtained a Brackenbury Scholarship to study History at Balliol College, Oxford. Even with the intervention of war, Kingswood School kept up news of their alumni in the school magazine, reporting Bill's service in Burma within the July 1945 edition.
The above information was retrieved from back issues of the Kingswood School Magazine and was kindly collated and sent to me by the school Archivist, Zoë Parsons.
Bill Edge took up his scholarship at Oxford in 1937, where he studied History for two years before the intervention of World War 2. After his service with the King's Regiment, Bill returned home to resume his education, attaining BA in Modern History at Balliol in 1946, followed by another accreditation in the same subject the following year. He then secured the post of Assistant Master at Whitgift School in Croydon. Bill was a House Master at Whitgift from 1960 until 1969 and the Senior History Master from 1969 until his retirement in July 1983. After leaving Whitgift School, Bill continued to work in the education sector, acting as an administrator for the Oxford and Cambridge Examination Board, marking both O' Level and A' Level exam papers.
From the 2002 edition of the Whitgiftian Magazine:
Obituary for C.W.C. Edge (written by Peter Gibson).
Bill Edge was a member of that generation of young men whose lives were redefined by the advent of the Second World War. Abandoning his studies at Oxford, Bill enlisted, attended an OCTU and was commissioned in the South Wales Borderers, but soon found himself attached to a battalion of the King's (Liverpool) Regiment. In 1942, the battalion was on garrison duty in India, when the maverick commander, Orde Wingate, mounted a long range operation into the Burmese jungle to harass Japanese forces after the fall of Singapore. The 13th King's were chosen to join with a battalion of Gurkhas and a detachment of the Burma Rifles, to form what became known as the first Wingate Expedition.
The details of this operation are recorded in the book, Beyond the Chindwin, by Major Bernard Fergusson, commander of No. 5 Column in which Bill served. His part in the actions, the dangers, privations, risks and adventurous decisions in harassing, yet evading the Japanese are vividly described. Bill was wounded, but by great good fortune his small party was reunited with Fergusson's main column; and not until they reached India was his wound properly attended to. Of the 318 officers and men of 5 Column who set out, only 123 survived, some of these having endured up to two years as prisoners of the Japanese, while others like Bill went on to serve elsewhere.
Like so many men who were dragged into the conflicts of the last century, Bill's background did not especially prepare him for his experiences. His father had joined the Methodist Ministry and it was while his parents were in the Bahamas that Bill and his twin sister were born, but most of his childhood was spent moving with his parents from one Methodist circuit to another in England and Wales.
Bill was educated at Kingswood School, Bath, where he shone both as a sportsman and as a scholar, winning the prestigious Brackenbury Scholarship at Balliol College, Oxford. At Oxford Bill had played for the Greyhounds and on his appointment to the Whitgift Staff, relished the opportunity to help coach the 1st XV. Until well on into his sixties he was a formidable opponent in the squash courts and, while not a great cricketer, enjoyed appearing for the Domini team almost up to his retirement. He was also Housemaster of Tate's House at the school for many years, leading mostly by encouragement and cajolery, although he could be stern when he thought it necessary. He claimed to have administered corporal punishment to a large proportion of the House on one occasion, when it was discovered that they had cheated in the Cross Country.
His greatest contribution to Whitgift, though, was in the classroom. Together with Douglas Hussey, whom he succeeded as Head of History, Bill established in the History Sixth a tradition of excellence. Together they coached a succession of pupils to awards at Oxford and Cambridge, whose later successes proved a source of justifiable pride and pleasure to them both. Bill's gift for an anecdote enlivened many a dusty topic for juniors as well as for senior pupils, while the breadth of his personal experience and his vast topographical knowledge of England and Wales, gave immediacy to his description of historical events. Bill was a dedicated examiner at A' Level, O' Level and latterly GCSE, an examination, needless to say for which he had little time. Indeed, he had just finished marking a batch of overseas examination papers a day or so before he died.
Bill Edge was awarded an entrance scholarship to attend Kingswood School, Bath in 1931 where he received a wonderful and wide-ranging education. He was an active student at Kingswood (a member of School House) and attained school prizes in French, English and Literature. Bill enjoyed a host of sporting activities, including tennis, athletics, gym and of course Rugby Union. Judging from the long list of his sporting achievements recorded in the school magazine, Bill was an able and talented all-rounder, without being the master of any one discipline in particular, as this entry in the Kingswood School Magazine illustrates:
1st XV Roundup April 1936: C. W. C. EDGE (Centre three-quarter) Blazer. Handles the ball well, and uses his opportunities intelligently. His tackling is reliable.
In 1931, Bill was elected Secretary of the Junior Scientific Society and also took on the role of Prince Perivale in the school's portrayal of A.A. Milne's play, The Ivory Door. In his later days at Kingswood, he held the posts of Tennis Club Secretary and President of the Senior Literary Association. In 1936, Bill, aged just seventeen, obtained a Brackenbury Scholarship to study History at Balliol College, Oxford. Even with the intervention of war, Kingswood School kept up news of their alumni in the school magazine, reporting Bill's service in Burma within the July 1945 edition.
The above information was retrieved from back issues of the Kingswood School Magazine and was kindly collated and sent to me by the school Archivist, Zoë Parsons.
Bill Edge took up his scholarship at Oxford in 1937, where he studied History for two years before the intervention of World War 2. After his service with the King's Regiment, Bill returned home to resume his education, attaining BA in Modern History at Balliol in 1946, followed by another accreditation in the same subject the following year. He then secured the post of Assistant Master at Whitgift School in Croydon. Bill was a House Master at Whitgift from 1960 until 1969 and the Senior History Master from 1969 until his retirement in July 1983. After leaving Whitgift School, Bill continued to work in the education sector, acting as an administrator for the Oxford and Cambridge Examination Board, marking both O' Level and A' Level exam papers.
From the 2002 edition of the Whitgiftian Magazine:
Obituary for C.W.C. Edge (written by Peter Gibson).
Bill Edge was a member of that generation of young men whose lives were redefined by the advent of the Second World War. Abandoning his studies at Oxford, Bill enlisted, attended an OCTU and was commissioned in the South Wales Borderers, but soon found himself attached to a battalion of the King's (Liverpool) Regiment. In 1942, the battalion was on garrison duty in India, when the maverick commander, Orde Wingate, mounted a long range operation into the Burmese jungle to harass Japanese forces after the fall of Singapore. The 13th King's were chosen to join with a battalion of Gurkhas and a detachment of the Burma Rifles, to form what became known as the first Wingate Expedition.
The details of this operation are recorded in the book, Beyond the Chindwin, by Major Bernard Fergusson, commander of No. 5 Column in which Bill served. His part in the actions, the dangers, privations, risks and adventurous decisions in harassing, yet evading the Japanese are vividly described. Bill was wounded, but by great good fortune his small party was reunited with Fergusson's main column; and not until they reached India was his wound properly attended to. Of the 318 officers and men of 5 Column who set out, only 123 survived, some of these having endured up to two years as prisoners of the Japanese, while others like Bill went on to serve elsewhere.
Like so many men who were dragged into the conflicts of the last century, Bill's background did not especially prepare him for his experiences. His father had joined the Methodist Ministry and it was while his parents were in the Bahamas that Bill and his twin sister were born, but most of his childhood was spent moving with his parents from one Methodist circuit to another in England and Wales.
Bill was educated at Kingswood School, Bath, where he shone both as a sportsman and as a scholar, winning the prestigious Brackenbury Scholarship at Balliol College, Oxford. At Oxford Bill had played for the Greyhounds and on his appointment to the Whitgift Staff, relished the opportunity to help coach the 1st XV. Until well on into his sixties he was a formidable opponent in the squash courts and, while not a great cricketer, enjoyed appearing for the Domini team almost up to his retirement. He was also Housemaster of Tate's House at the school for many years, leading mostly by encouragement and cajolery, although he could be stern when he thought it necessary. He claimed to have administered corporal punishment to a large proportion of the House on one occasion, when it was discovered that they had cheated in the Cross Country.
His greatest contribution to Whitgift, though, was in the classroom. Together with Douglas Hussey, whom he succeeded as Head of History, Bill established in the History Sixth a tradition of excellence. Together they coached a succession of pupils to awards at Oxford and Cambridge, whose later successes proved a source of justifiable pride and pleasure to them both. Bill's gift for an anecdote enlivened many a dusty topic for juniors as well as for senior pupils, while the breadth of his personal experience and his vast topographical knowledge of England and Wales, gave immediacy to his description of historical events. Bill was a dedicated examiner at A' Level, O' Level and latterly GCSE, an examination, needless to say for which he had little time. Indeed, he had just finished marking a batch of overseas examination papers a day or so before he died.
Bill's obituary continues:
Easy-going, almost to a fault, Bill made no enemies and many friends. Particularly instructive was the affection and loyalty he inspired amongst the young men appointed to the History Department during his time as Head of Department. He was an outstanding Common Room Man, always the focus of laughter and jolliment, whether in the Common Room itself, at lunchtime, or in the pub after school. He took to heart Houseman's aphorism that:
Easy-going, almost to a fault, Bill made no enemies and many friends. Particularly instructive was the affection and loyalty he inspired amongst the young men appointed to the History Department during his time as Head of Department. He was an outstanding Common Room Man, always the focus of laughter and jolliment, whether in the Common Room itself, at lunchtime, or in the pub after school. He took to heart Houseman's aphorism that:
Malt does more than Milton can
To justify God's way to man.
To justify God's way to man.
For all his erudition, Bill remained at heart a simple man, finding great pleasure in working on his allotment, walking the English countryside, gossiping over a pint in a small local pub, or playing village cricket. His sudden death has left a gap in the lives of all that knew him. This is especially true for his wife, Margaret and for his son Christopher and daughter Jill and their families. As Margaret stated, Bill was not ready to go and those of us who enjoyed his company in November 2001 at the staff reunion dinner, held at the OWA Clubhouse can vouch for this. He seemed fully recovered from the serious operation of some years before and was as lively and stimulating as ever.
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Former pupil, Mick Morden added:
The teacher who made the biggest difference to my life at Whitgift was Bill Edge, because it was he who asked me what I intended to do after my O' Levels and when I laid out my plan to be a journalist, beginning on The Croydon Advertiser, he rapidly talked me out of it in favour of A' Levels and then Cambridge. I can't be the only former History student (indeed, I know I'm not), who had two important histroical events fixed in his mind by the Edge quatrain:
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Former pupil, Mick Morden added:
The teacher who made the biggest difference to my life at Whitgift was Bill Edge, because it was he who asked me what I intended to do after my O' Levels and when I laid out my plan to be a journalist, beginning on The Croydon Advertiser, he rapidly talked me out of it in favour of A' Levels and then Cambridge. I can't be the only former History student (indeed, I know I'm not), who had two important histroical events fixed in his mind by the Edge quatrain:
The Thirty Years War, avoid like the plaque;
A disgusting and grim Saturnalia.
It begins with the Defenestration of Prague
And it ends with the peace of Westphalia.
A disgusting and grim Saturnalia.
It begins with the Defenestration of Prague
And it ends with the peace of Westphalia.
Above all I remember comments scribbled casually on the bottom of essays of mine. For example:
You do your very best to please
With fanciful hyperboles.
But I have a marked abhorrence
Of these over-facile torrents.
With fanciful hyperboles.
But I have a marked abhorrence
Of these over-facile torrents.
I like to think that I took both of them to heart! (Mick Morden).
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Archivist, William Wood for all his help in providing details of Bill's life and times at Whitgift School. These details, alongside those provided by Zoë Parsons for his time at Kingswood School, have brought the character and personality of Bill Edge to life on these website pages.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Archivist, William Wood for all his help in providing details of Bill's life and times at Whitgift School. These details, alongside those provided by Zoë Parsons for his time at Kingswood School, have brought the character and personality of Bill Edge to life on these website pages.
Update 22/09/2019.
From the book, Roll On (Vol.2), the diaries of Tommy Roberts and with the permission of author Patricia Ireland:
This letter was received by Tommy Roberts in January 1969 from Bill Edge an officer with No. 5 Column on Operation Longcloth, soon after the Chindit Reunion Memorial Dinner of the same year, which Tommy had not attended.
Dear Tommy,
My New Year's Resolution is to write to you & wish you well for the New Year & inquire after you... I am sorry you weren't able to come to the reunion: actually it was disappointing in some ways as so few people I knew well were there - & a surprising number seemed to have been killed in car accidents and such like since the war — John Kerr, Jim Harman among others.
Bernard (Fergusson) did the thing very well & was as lively as ever: I got on best with my fellow schoolmasters - Philip Stibbe and Les Cottrell, the latter has done well to become Head of a big school up North, as you probably already know. Sam Cooke was very amiable - & leads a bachelor life in Norfolk somewhere: he and Scottie & Pickering had been having a reunion of their own at his place. Pam Heald is Governor of Exeter Prison & urged us to drop in for a drink any time — but it 's rather a long way... It was really rather sad to see Mike Calvert very much gone to seed after his many vicissitudes. Still it was all quite interesting.
I am still soldiering on at Whitgift School— a rut, but a pleasant one. Two children —Christopher is quite a big lad at 16, & at his school very keen on games, especially rugger & cricket. My daughter Jill, 14, is at Croydon High School. They are typical teenagers & have had a whale of a time going to parties this Christmas. I have been working hard marking hundreds of exam papers to pay for their school fees and other fun and games.
We do journey north to my sister’s cottage in the Lakes, normally at Easter or in the summer from time to time, it would be nice to see you. If you ever come south, give me ring and I could easily meet you in town. Please write and tell me how things are with you and all the best.
Bill
From the book, Roll On (Vol.2), the diaries of Tommy Roberts and with the permission of author Patricia Ireland:
This letter was received by Tommy Roberts in January 1969 from Bill Edge an officer with No. 5 Column on Operation Longcloth, soon after the Chindit Reunion Memorial Dinner of the same year, which Tommy had not attended.
Dear Tommy,
My New Year's Resolution is to write to you & wish you well for the New Year & inquire after you... I am sorry you weren't able to come to the reunion: actually it was disappointing in some ways as so few people I knew well were there - & a surprising number seemed to have been killed in car accidents and such like since the war — John Kerr, Jim Harman among others.
Bernard (Fergusson) did the thing very well & was as lively as ever: I got on best with my fellow schoolmasters - Philip Stibbe and Les Cottrell, the latter has done well to become Head of a big school up North, as you probably already know. Sam Cooke was very amiable - & leads a bachelor life in Norfolk somewhere: he and Scottie & Pickering had been having a reunion of their own at his place. Pam Heald is Governor of Exeter Prison & urged us to drop in for a drink any time — but it 's rather a long way... It was really rather sad to see Mike Calvert very much gone to seed after his many vicissitudes. Still it was all quite interesting.
I am still soldiering on at Whitgift School— a rut, but a pleasant one. Two children —Christopher is quite a big lad at 16, & at his school very keen on games, especially rugger & cricket. My daughter Jill, 14, is at Croydon High School. They are typical teenagers & have had a whale of a time going to parties this Christmas. I have been working hard marking hundreds of exam papers to pay for their school fees and other fun and games.
We do journey north to my sister’s cottage in the Lakes, normally at Easter or in the summer from time to time, it would be nice to see you. If you ever come south, give me ring and I could easily meet you in town. Please write and tell me how things are with you and all the best.
Bill
Shown below is Bill's actual letter to Tommy from January 1969. Please click on either image to bring it forward on the page.
Update 19/07/2020.
I was delighted to receive an email contact from Stephen Brown, a former pupil of Bill Edge:
I just wanted to say thank you so much for the work you have done on Bill Edge. He taught me history at Whitgift School and I knew Christopher his son very well. Bill was so dignified and modest. He, nor his family, ever mentioned his exploits during the war. And really, as one gets older, one just asks, what on earth was a man like that doing teaching the likes of me?
Thank you again.
I was delighted to receive an email contact from Stephen Brown, a former pupil of Bill Edge:
I just wanted to say thank you so much for the work you have done on Bill Edge. He taught me history at Whitgift School and I knew Christopher his son very well. Bill was so dignified and modest. He, nor his family, ever mentioned his exploits during the war. And really, as one gets older, one just asks, what on earth was a man like that doing teaching the likes of me?
Thank you again.
Copyright © Steve Fogden, October 2017.