Edgar Thomas Towner VC MC (1890 - 1972)

Ancestors

Australia's Victoria Cross recipients

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 First World War 1.2 On the land; his real love 1.3 Secord World War 1.4 Mixing pastoral life with geographical interests 1.5 final parade 1.6 legacy 2 Sources 3 See also

Biography

Edgar Towner VC MC FRGSA was an Australian 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. Earlier, he had been awarded the Military Cross for his gallant leadership of his machine gun section. A keen geographer, Edgar was awarded the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia 'Dr Thomson Foundation Gold Medal' that resulted in the booklet entitled, Lake Eyre and its Tributaries.

Edgar Thomas Towner was born on 19th April 1890 on Glencoe Station near Blackall, in central western Queensland (Australia). He was the eldest son of Edgar Towner, a widower and a grazier, and his Irish-born second wife Greta Hurley. ^[1] He was educated at Blackall State School and in Rockhampton, although he also received private instruction from his mother.

After completing his formal education, Edgar worked on his father's grazing property until 1912, at which time he acquired land of his own nearby that he named Valparaiso. He worked his land until the outbreak of the First World War.

First World War

Edgar enlisted on 4th January 1915 in the Australian Imperial Force, his young nation's all-volunteer expeditionary force for the (First World) War. ^[2] Posted to the transport section of the 25th Infantry Battalion, ^[3] he embarked aboard HMAT Aeneas A60 on 29th June that year for the Middle East. ^[4] Edgar served in Egypt whilst most of the battalion was deployed to Gallipoli; re-joining his unit in time to be sent to the Western Front in 1916. Landing in France on 19th March 1916, the 25th was the first AIF battalion to be deployed there. Showing leadership potential, Edgar was shortly afterward commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and transferred to the 7th Machine Gun Company. With this unit he saw action in the Battle of the Somme, Battle of Pozières, Hundred Days Offensive, Second Battle of the Somme and Battle of Mont St Quentin. On 19th June 1918, Edgar led a machine gun section of the 2nd Machine Gun Battalion in attack near Morlancourt and assisted the infantry in reaching its objectives under heavy fire, for which he was awarded the Military Cross (MC). ^[5]

Victoria Cross

On 1st September, again commanding a machine gun section, Edgar was involved in the Allied counter-offensive 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 (VC); gazetted in London 14th December 1918. ^[6][7] The VC was presented by King George V at a special investiture at Buckingham Palace in April 1919.

Edgar was also Mentioned in Despatches (equivalent to today's Commendation for Gallantry) on two occasions, gazetted in London on 1st June 1917 when a Second Lieutenant with the 7th Australian Machine Gun Company ^[8] and 28th May 1818 as a Lieutenant with the 2nd Machine Gun Company. ^[9]

On the land; his real love

Edgar resettled on Valparaiso, but was forced to sell his property in 1922 when he was unable to raise sufficient funds to purchase livestock. He spent the next three years working as a jackaroo, until he entered into a partnership on Kaloola station, a property located near Longreach. Edgar eventually bought out his partner and assumed another partnership with the Russleigh Pastoral Company, Isisford; being appointed a company director.

Edgar was awarded the King George VI Coronation Medal in 1937.

Secord World War

Edgar served a further two and a half years in the Australian Army during the Second World War, from 8th August 1939; ^[10] being commissioned as a Captain in the 26th Australian Infantry Battalion, commanded by fellow Victoria Cross recipient, Lieutenant Colonel Harry Murray, the Australian Army's most highly decorated soldier of the First World War. Soon afterward, Edgar was promoted to Major and appointed a company commander. The battalion was headquartered at Hughenden, with companies based throughout central northern Queensland at Julia Creek, Winton, and Longreach. In June 1941 the battalion moved to Sellheim near Charters Towers. Edgar's input ensured that a competent militia unit later deployed to Cape York and New Guinea. He was discharged from his military duties on 21st February 1942, aged 52 years. ^[11]

Mixing pastoral life with geographical interests

A keen geographer, Edgar would often disappear into the bush for weeks on end, for study or exploration. As a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia and Member of the Royal Australian Historical Society, he took a particular interest in researching the life of the explorer Sir Thomas Mitchell (1792-1855). In 1946, he successfully lobbied the Commonwealth Government to issue a postage stamp commemorating the centenary of Mitchell's discoveries in central Queensland. He addressed the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia in Brisbane in 1955, and was awarded the Dr Thomson Foundation Gold Medal for his geographical work the following year.

Edgar's address was published in 1957, in a booklet entitled Lake Eyre and its Tributaries.

In 1953, as a recipient of the Victoria Cross, Edgar was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal.

By 1972, he had amassed an 80,000-acre (320 km²) farm – three-quarters of the size of the City of the Gold Coast – on which he ran 25,000 sheep.

final parade

Edgar Towner VC MC, 1919

A life-long bachelor, Edgar Towner VC passed away, aged 82 years, on 18th August 1972 at Longreach Base Hospital, Longreach, Queensland.^[12] Longreach is just 214 kilometres by road, via Barcaldine, north west of Blackall. A large number of Longreach citizens lined the streets to see his coffin pass by atop a gun carriage. Following a service in St Andrew's Anglican Church, he was buried with full military honours in Longreach Cemetery.

legacy

Edgar remains Queensland's highest decorated serviceperson.

Inspired by an essay written by a local schoolboy, the Blackall community raised $80,000 to commission a monument in Edgar Towner's memory. On 24th April 2009, a statue of Edgar was unveiled in his birth town. ^[13]

Sources

1. ↑ Queensland Birth Index #1890/C/193
2. ↑ Australian War Memorial nominal roll: 1067 Private Edgar Thomas Towner; accessed 9 May 2019
3. ↑ Australian War Memorial unit record: 25th Australian Infantry Battalion; accessed 9 May 2019
4. ↑ Australian War Memorial embarkation roll: 1067 Private Edgar Thomas Towner; accessed 9 May 2019
5. ↑ Australian War Memorial Honours and Awards: Military Cross; accessed 9 May 2019
6. ↑ Australian War Memorial Honours and Awards: Victoria Cross; accessed 9 May 2019
7. ↑ London Gazette 13 Dec 1918 Supplement: 31067 Page: 14775; accessed 9 May 2019
8. ↑ Australian War Memorial Honours and awards: Mentioned in Despatches; accessed 9 May 2019
9. ↑ Australian War Memorial honours and awards: Mentioned in Despatches; accessed 9 May 2019
10. ↑ Australian War Memorial nominal roll: Q30753 Captain Edgar Thomas Towner; accessed 9 May 2019
11. ↑ Australian War Memorial unit record: 26th Australian Infantry Battalion; accessed 9 May 2019
12. ↑ Queensland Death Index #1972/C/3639
13. ↑ The Age 6 Jan 2009: Country boy's essay inspires tribute to hero, by Clare Kermond; accessed 9 May 2019

See also

• Gorrell, Richard. 'Towner, Edgar Thomas (1890–1972)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1990; accessed online 9 May 2019.
• Wikipedia profile: Edgar Towner.