250752 Pte. William Henry Edwards MM.British Army 10th Btn. Welch Regiment from:Marry, Rhondd, Glamorgan My maternal Great Grandfather William Edwards was born in Mardy, Glamorgan Wales in 1890, Will was a 24 year old married coal miner with two sons (and a third on its way, that being my grandfather) when war was declared and he enlisted with the newly formed 10th Btn, Welsh Regiment. He served with the 10th in Flanders seeing action at both the Battles of Mametz Wood (1916) and Pilkem Ridge (1917).
When the 10th were disbanded he was posted to the 9th Welsh Regiment in 1918 where he saw action at the Battles of Bapaume and Lys at Messines where he was awarded the honour of Military Medal which is awarded for "acts of gallantry and devotion to duty under fire or for individual or associated acts of bravery".
After he was demobbed in early 1919, Will returned to coal mining in the Rhondda and then later in Kent. He had eight children with his wife Frances Jane Crandon.
In the Second World War he served in the Home Guard in Kent.
Will died in 1969 and is buried with his wife in Ramsgate Cemetery.
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