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Edgar Towner
Blackall, Queensland
Longreach, Queensland
Allegiance Australia
Rank Major
Battles / wars
Western Front
Battle of Pozières
Military Cross
Edgar Thomas Towner, VC, MC (19 April 1890 – 18 August 1972) was an Australian grazier, soldier,
geographer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of
the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces. A
lieutenant in the Australian Imperial Force during the First World War, Towner was awarded the
Victoria Cross for his actions on 1 September 1918, during an attack on Mont St Quentin on the
Western Front.
Born in Queensland to a farming family, Towner enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1915.
Posted to the transport section of the 25th Battalion, he served in Egypt until his unit was sent to the
Western Front. He then transferred to the 2nd Machine Gun Battalion where he was commissioned
as a lieutenant and twice mentioned in despatches for his leadership. In June 1918, Towner led a
machine gun section in attack near Morlancourt and assisted the infantry in reaching its objectives
under heavy fire, for which he was awarded the Military Cross. In September, again commanding a
machine gun section, he was involved in the counteroffensive that broke the German lines at Mont St
Quentin and Péronne. Fighting for thirty hours after being wounded, his "conspicuous bravery,
initiative and devotion to duty" earned him the Victoria Cross, which was presented by King George V
in April 1919.
Discharged in August 1919, Towner returned to farming in Queensland. He was appointed a director
of the Russleigh Pastoral Company, and briefly re-enlisted for service in the Second World War, when
he was promoted to major. A keen geographer, he was awarded the Dr Thomson Foundation Gold
Medal in 1956 for his geographical work. Unmarried, he died in 1972 at the age of 82.
Early life
Edgar Thomas Towner was born on 19 April 1890, at Glencoe Station near Blackall, Queensland, to
Edgar Thomas Towner, a grazing farmer, and his Irish wife Greta (née Herley). He was educated at
Blackall State School and in Rockhampton, although he also received private instruction from his
mother.[1][2] After leaving school Towner worked on his father's grazing property until 1912, when
he acquired land of his own. He named the property "Valparaiso" and worked on its development
until the outbreak of the First World War.[1]
Towner enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 4 January 1915.[3] Assigned to the transport
section of the 25th Battalion as a private,[4] he embarked aboard HMAT Aeneas from Brisbane on 29
June, bound for Egypt.[5] The troopship arrived in August, and the battalion spent the rest of the
month training in the desert before transferring to the Gallipoli Peninsula.[6] Towner, however,
remained in Egypt with the army's transportation elements.[4]
Following the Allied evacuation of Gallipoli, the 25th Battalion returned to Egypt in December 1915,
[6] where Towner rejoined its ranks on 10 January 1916. He was promoted to sergeant on 1
February, before departing with the battalion at Alexandria the following month to join the British
Expeditionary Force on the Western Front. Disembarking at Marseille,[7] the unit was the first
Australian battalion to arrive in France.[6]
In July 1916, the 25th Battalion took part in its first major Western Front action at the Battle of
Pozières, part of the Somme offensive. The battalion suffered 785 casualties between 25 July and 7
August. It was briefly transferred to a "quieter sector of the front in Belgium" before returning to
action on the Somme in October.[6] On 3 November, Towner was transferred to the Australian
Machine Gun Corps and was assigned to the 2nd Machine Gun Battalion of the 2nd Australian
Division, and was allotted to the 7th Brigade's Machine Gun Company.[4] He was commissioned as a
second lieutenant fifteen days later,[3][7] and assumed command of the battalion's transport
section.[4]
Towner was promoted to lieutenant on 24 February 1917;[8] his service with his transport section
earned him praise for his "devotion to duty and consistent good work",[9] and on 9 April he was
Mentioned in the Despatches of Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig.[10] Towner was granted leave to the
United Kingdom in January 1918.[7] He received a second Mention in Despatches on 7 April 1918,
the notification of which was published in a supplement to The London Gazette on 28 May.[11]
On the night of 10/11 June 1918, Towner was in command of a machine gun section during an attack
to the south of Morlancourt. One of the first to reach the objective, he deployed his section and got
its guns into action "very quickly".[12] By using captured German machine guns he was able to
increase his section's fire[8] and provide support to the company on his right as it advanced, seized,
and consolidated its position.[1][12] During the morning of 11 June, one of the posts held by the
Australian infantry was blown in by German artillery; braving machine gun and sniper fire, Towner
went out in daylight to help reorganise the post. Cited for his "cheerful and untiring attitude" and for
"set[ing] a conspicuous example",[12] Towner was awarded the Military Cross for his actions. The
announcement of the award and accompanying citation was published in a supplement to The
London Gazette on 24 September 1918.[13]
Victoria Cross
On 1 September 1918, Towner was in command of No. 3 Section of the 7th Machine Gun Company
during an attack on Mont St Quentin, near Péronne.[3] Armed with four Vickers machine guns,[14]
the section was attached to the right flank of the 24th Australian Infantry Battalion, whose principal
objective was to seize the summit of Mont St Quentin. To accomplish this, the battalion would have
to advance through the village of Feuillaucourt before moving down to the Péronne road.[3][15] The
Australians began their advance at 06:00 behind an artillery screen, with Towner's section covering a
front of 1,400 metres (1,500 yd).[14][15] Visibility was limited by rain, and Australian casualties soon
began to mount.[15] Locating a German machine gun that was causing heavy losses among the
advancing troops, Towner rushed the position and single-handedly killed the crew with his revolver.
Having captured the gun, he then turned it on the Germans.[3][14]
Once Feuillaucourt had fallen, the 24th Battalion continued to the Péronne road.[15] However, the
Germans had occupied a copse of trees and put up strong resistance, halting the advance.[14][15]
German troops were observed massing for a counter-attack, so Towner moved forward with several
of his men, two Vickers guns, and the captured German gun, and brought the assembling Germans
under concentrated fire, inflicting many casualties.[3] Attempting to retire, a party of twenty-five
German soldiers were cut off by Towner's guns and taken prisoner.[14] Under heavy incoming fire,
Towner then scouted over open terrain to locate advantageous positions from which his guns could
offer further support.[3][14] When he moved his section forward, the machine gunners were able to
engage more groups of German soldiers; their aggressive action enabled the advance to be renewed,
and the battalion attained the cover of a sunken section of the Péronne road.[14][15] On rejoining
them Towner found that his section was growing short of ammunition, so he made his way back
across the fire-swept ground and located a German machine gun, which he brought forward along
with several boxes of ammunition. This he brought into action "in full view of the enemy";[3][14] his
effective fire forced the Germans to retire further, and allowed one of the stalled Australian flanks to
push ahead.[1][14]
German machine gunners had occupied a commanding vantage overlooking the sunken road, and
began to rain down heavy fire around Towner's position. One of the bullets struck his helmet,
inflicting a gaping wound to his scalp. Refusing to be evacuated for medical treatment, Towner
continued firing his gun as the German pressure increased and the situation grew critical.[2][16]
Eventually the Australian infantry were forced to retire a short distance, but with all its crew having