70 years to right a wrong

Edgar Bradbury and great grandaughter Katie - and the medal she acquired for him. Picture: Advertiser Media Group

AS it was pinned to his chest, 18-year-old Able Seaman Edgar Bradbury felt an immense glow of pride which almost erased the horror he had endured during the D-Day landings.

But an hour later the Springhead-born hero was cruelly stripped of his Purple Heart honour by the American military - when they realised he was British.

Edgar, a gunner in the Royal Navy, was transferred to an American landing craft at the 11th hour on June 6, 1944, to fight alongside US servicemen.

As he and others stormed the Normandy beaches alongside their allies under heavy enemy fire, his landing craft was hit by a German shell and a piece of shrapnel wedged in the back of his head, knocking him unconscious in the water.

Edgar, who celebrated his 92nd birthday on Monday, doesn’t remember what happened next but he came round to find himself on an American hospital ship.

Following his recovery he was ushered into a queue of wounded US servicemen in hospital to be bestowed one of America’s highest military honours for his outstanding bravery, the Purple Heart.

Edgar, who now lives in Nottinghamshire, said he was devastated when they later stripped him of the medal - and admitted he has spent the rest of his life believing he deserved it and should have been allowed to keep it.

On hearing his story his great-grandaughter, Katie Bowditch, set about trying to right the wrong of 70 years. After a search the 18-year-old located a genuine purple heart online and bought it to present to her overwhelmed grandad.

The brave veteran’s only other wish was for his story to be told in the Chronicle so his hometown would know his intriguing story.

“I just wanted to be in the Chronicle to tell my story,” said Edgar. whose three brothers Herbert, Owen and George, were also decorated for their part in the Second World War.

“I’m not sure there will be that many people left who remember me but I was born and bred in Springhead. We lived near the school on Cooper Street.

“I was very, very upset when they took the Purple Heart off me. Me and another British serviceman were told to line up to be presented with these medals. We were wearing second-hand US issue military clothing so I suppose they just assumed we were American.

“I couldn’t understand why, when we’d fought alongside the Americans and shed our blood alongside them, we weren’t eligible for the same recognition of bravery.

“When my wife died, Katie wanted to do something special for me; I couldn’t believe I finally had a purple heart I could keep after all this time.”

The medal is awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving with the US military after 1917. But it is only ganted to US citizens, which is why the award was withdrawn when officials discovered Edgar was English