LIEUTENANT EDWARD LEONARD GEDYE
ROYAL FIELD ARTILLERY
24TH AUGUST 1916 AGE 23
BURIED: AVELUY COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION, FRANCE
"It is impossible for me to say how much I sympathise with you in your great grief. Your son was attached to my battery when he met his death. A better officer I could not desire. He was always cheerful and intensely keen on his work: he was deservedly popular with all who knew him, officers and men. He died in a most gallent attempt to save the lives of others, and he suffered no pain. His death is a great loss to the brigade, but we are proud of the way he died.
I do not know if you have already heard how your son was killed; in case you have not, I will tell you as nearly as I can. The evening before a bomb store nearby was hit by the enemy, and two explosions occurred. At about midnight on the 23rd your son was on duty at the battery and noticed a fire amongst a large pile of bombs and other ammunition. He called out to a gunner, 'Come on, we must put this out,' and together they went up to it with buckets of water. The gunner was returning with an empty bucket and passed your son on the way up to the fire with a second bucket. A few seconds afterwards the explosion occurred."
Letter to Lieutenant Gedye's father from the brigade major written on 26 August and printed in the Western Daily Press, Bristol on 31 August 1916.
IN MEMORIAM
ON ACTIVE SERVICE
Gedye - In loving memory of Edward Leonard Gedye, Lieut. Gloucestershire R.F.A. (T) 1st South Midland Brigade, who "passed out of the sight of men by the path of duty and self-sacrifice" at midnight, Aug. 23 1916, near Albert-sur-Somme.
The Times August 23 1934