Edwards, John Oswald Valentine, brother of Edward Cecil Theodore Edwards (qv); b. 14 Feb. 1912; adm. Jan. 1926 (A), (B) Sept. 1926; left July 1930; Keble Coll. Oxf., matric. 1930, BA 1933, MA 1937; 2nd Lieut. E. Surrey Regt Jan. 1932, Lieut. Jan. 1935, Capt. Jan. 1940, attached Burma Defence Force; killed in action at Paungde, Burma, 10 Apr. 1942.
John Oswald Valentine Edwards was born at Oxford, Oxfordshire on the 14th of February 1912 the third and youngest son of the Reverend Robert Stephen Edwards, Vicar of Westcote Barton, and Anne Rosalie Tannatt (nee Pryce) Edwards of Westcote Barton, Rectory, later of 25, St Margaret’s Road, Oxford and of 56, Elsham Road, Kensington in London. He was christened at the Church of St Mary and St John, Cowley on the 9th of March 1912. He was educated at the Dragon School, Oxford from May 1918 to 1919 and returned as a boarder from May 1922 to 1925. He went on to Westminster School where he was up Ashburnham from January 1926 and up Busby’s from September 1926 to July 1930. He rowed for his House in 1928, winning House Colours the following year, and was a member of the 1st Rowing VIII in 1930 where he rowed at bow and won his School Colours in the same year. The Elizabethan wrote the following of his 1930 season: - “He carried out the rowing tradition of his family in spirit if not in bulk. He hunched his shoulders and ducked his head coming forward, which is not good for breathing, nor for getting a swift beginning –and his finish tended to be awkward with the same hunch, but he was an effective oar through his good blade work, and his knowledge of how to drive.”
He was a member of the Officer Training Corps and was promoted to Lance Corporal in September 1930.
He matriculated for Keble College, Oxford in 1930 and was awarded a BA in 1933 and a MA in 1937. He rowed for his College while he was at Oxford, winning the Challenge Pairs with E.L. Dams in 1932. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant as a University Candidate on the General List on the 7th of July 1931. He was elected as a member of the London Rowing Club in 1932.
He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant to the East Surrey Regiment from the General List on the 28th of October 1933, with seniority from the 28th of January 1932. He was promoted to Lieutenant on the 28th of January 1935. He served in India from 1935 to 1937 and then at Khartoum in the Sudan. He was seconded to the Burma Defence Force and was transferred to the Special Employed List. He served as the second in command of the Myitkyina Battalion, Burma Frontier Force from the 11th of July 1938 and was drafted to Rangoon where large scale riots were taking place that month. He was promoted to Captain on the 28th of January 1940.
Towards the end of 1940, the Regiment was reorganised and he was transferred to Frontier Force 2 (F.F.2), Burma Frontier Force. These were mobile detachments of troops made up of independent columns, which were to engage the enemy until such time as they could be joined by regular forces. F.F.2. was responsible for the defence of the Southern Tenasserim Coast and for special missions up to the border with Thailand. John Edwards was appointed to the command of No. 1 Column. In June 1941 and the unit began looking for a suitable base in the area of the village of Thawbawleik from which to operate. The new camp was constructed and when the men moved into it John Edwards and Captain Booker began a reconnaissance of the area, with John Edwards exploring the area on foot as far as the border with Thailand. In October 1941, the unit was relieved after which it spent its time watching the tracks into Burma in case of hostilities. At this time John Edwards and No. 1 Column were based at Lenya from where they reconnoitred the tracks which ran across the Thailand/Burma border. A short time later No. 1 Column received orders to move to Hnohng Hin where they were to demolish a bridge in the event of a Japanese invasion.
The Japanese invaded Burma on the 8th of December 1941 when John Edwards reported to Headquarters that he had seen unidentified aircraft flying high over the Maw Daung Pass. The following day he received orders to move to investigate reports of Japanese forces at Prachaub Khirikhan but was ordered not to engage with any enemy forces he found there. On the 10th of December the Columns were ordered to implement the destruction of the bridges as they had planned. No. 1 Column continued towards Prachaub Khirikhan and during the night of the 12th of December heavy firing was heard from the direction the Column had taken. A short while after this, two of Edward’s men arrived back at base to report that No. 1 Column had been attacked by a large number of Japanese troops and that there had been heavy casualties amongst the Burmese. By the 15th of December John Edwards and his remaining men were back at the main camp where he reported the loss of his wireless section, along with their messages and ciphers. It was decided to cancel the operation to destroy the bridges. On the 17th of December 1941, F.F.2 left the camp and on the 21st of December a patrol from the unit was sent to investigate reports of enemy landings at Bokpyin.
With the Japanese now arriving in Burma in strength it was decided to evacuate the Burmese troops from Mergui and to concentrate them at Tavoy. F.F.2 was to cover the evacuation. On the 19th of December it was decided that Tavoy was under such a threat from the advancing Japanese that the men would be evacuated to Rangoon instead. F.F.2 was evacuated between the 20th and 22nd of January 1942. When it reached Rangoon it was sent to Pyawbwe to reorganise.
Once they had rested, John Edwards was given command of No. 2 Column which was attached to the 17th Indian Division on the 10th of February where it began its new role as a Divisional Reconnaissance unit. It was to patrol the area between the road from Kyaikto to Thaton and on the coast from Kyaikto to a track running from Theinzeik to Kadaik as far as the Bilin River. It was also to support the coast watching detachments of the Burma Auxiliary Force and of the Burma Military Police and to report immediately of any Japanese landings. John Edwards had three platoons of the Burma Military Police under his command to assist with patrolling and with the general defence of the area.
On the 16th of February 1942, the Japanese began attacking the area of the Bilin River and on the 18th of February John Edwards was ordered to seek out the enemy and to attack them. By the following day the 17th Division had begun a general withdrawal and ordered F.F.2. to protect its northern flank while it did so. At 2.30pm on the 21st of February No. 2 Column was heavily engaged by enemy forces. In spite of reports that his unit had been surrounded, John Edwards managed to extricate his men and lead them towards the Sittang River, engaging enemy troops near Mokpalin on the way during which his Column became scattered. They rejoined the Division at Pegu where the Column commanders reported that their men were totally demoralised. The stragglers arrived at Pegu to rejoin the column over the next several days.
On the 10th of March 1942 he was at Tharawaddy when he and his remaining 90 men were merged with F.F.6. and were attached to the 1st Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment where they were to form a rearguard in defence of the Division’s continuing withdrawal. They followed the 17th Division’s withdrawal themselves during which time they ambushed a number of Japanese troops at Letpadan on the 18th of March causing heavy casualties amongst them. They rejoined the Division on the 30th of March at Prome. John Edwards was killed during a Japanese attack on the town of Paungde, just to the south of Prome.
A friend wrote: - “I always thought that Oswald was a great character and a most entertaining and interesting man, one of the few I really regarded as a friend. How well I remember his decided views on life and the arguments we used to have together!”
His brother, Wing Commander Edward Cecil Theodore Edwards OW, 53 Squadron, Royal Air Force, was killed in action on the 31st of August 1940.
He and his brother are commemorated on a stone in the churchyard at Westcote Barton and on the war memorials at the Dragon School and at Keble College, Oxford. He is also commemorated on the war memorial at the London Rowing Club.
He is commemorated on the Rangoon Memorial Face 13.
