Lest We Forget, part 8: Private Edward Warner VC: The Straw Hat Maker from Cannon Street

Part 8 of 13 of Lest We Forget, a history of remembrance in Harpenden and St Albans. Read the whole illustrated book.

The most famous name on the St Albans memorial belongs to a man who made straw hats before the war. Edward Warner was born at 36 Cannon Street, St Albans, on 18 November 1883. His father, Mark, was a railway platelayer who had been born in Wheathampstead, and Edward was the only son of Mark and his wife Charlotte. By 1901, aged 17, he was working as a straw hat stiffener, in one of the city's main trades.

He joined the Bedfordshire Regiment in 1903 and served in India until the battalion returned to Britain in 1908, when he moved to the Reserve. Back in civilian life he worked for the Deep Well Boring Works, St Albans Council and the GPO Telephones Department. When war broke out he was recalled, joined the 1st Battalion and crossed to France in mid-August 1914. The Bedfordshire Times later noted that he had come through the whole campaign up to Hill 60 without a scratch.

A cigarette card commemorating Private Edward Warner VC, the straw hat maker from St Albans.
Photo: Cigarette card, Cohen, Weenen & Co. Public domain.

Hill 60, 1 May 1915

Hill 60 was a small raised mound of spoil from a railway cutting south-east of Ypres. The British captured it on 17 April 1915 and held it against fierce counter-attacks. On 1 May the Germans released chlorine gas against the position. British troops pulled out of a section known as Trench 46 as the gas rolled across it.

Warner went into the abandoned trench by himself to stop the enemy from occupying it. Reinforcements were sent to him, but could not reach him through the gas. He came back, brought up more men, and by then he was completely exhausted. The trench was held until the attack stopped. He died the next day, 2 May, of gas poisoning, aged 31. He was the fifth soldier to win the Victoria Cross at Hill 60.

The London Gazette published his citation on 29 June 1915. The Bedfordshire Times reported the award on 2 July 1915, noting that his mother lived at 38 Cannon Street, St Albans.

A map of the Hill 60 area near Zillebeke, Belgium, by E. Wyrall.
Photo: E. Wyrall. Public domain.

After the war

• 18 November 1883 — Born at 36 Cannon Street, St Albans
• 1903 — Enlists in the Bedfordshire Regiment
• August 1914 — Recalled from the Reserve; crosses to France
• 1 May 1915 — Wins the VC at Hill 60
• 2 May 1915 — Dies of gas poisoning
• 29 June 1915 — VC citation published in the London Gazette
• 16 November 1916 — King George V presents the VC to his mother at Buckingham Palace
• 1939 — His mother dies and bequeaths the medals to Warner's niece, Mrs Gwen Dixon
• 20 June 1962 — Mrs Dixon presents the medals to the Bedfordshire Regiment
• 2015 — A commemorative paving stone is laid in front of the St Albans war memorial

Warner's first grave was lost after the war, and he is remembered on the Menin Gate Memorial at Ypres, which records those with no known grave. His name is also on the St Albans memorial, and in 2015, to mark the centenary of his action, a paving stone in his honour was laid in front of it. His medals are held in the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment museum in Luton.

Ypres: the old Menin Gate (Porte de Menin) on a postcard from before the war. The Menin Gate Memorial, which commemorates those with no known grave, including Edward Warner, now stands on the site.
Postcard, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0.

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📖 Read the whole illustrated book. Turn the pages like a real book, or swipe on your phone.

All 13 parts

1. Introduction: Why We Remember
2. August 1914: Two Towns Go to War
3. Harpenden in the Great War: Camp, Hospital and Home Front
4. St Albans in the Great War: A Garrison Town
5. The Fallen: The People Behind the Names
6. Building Memory: The Memorials of 1920 and 1921
7. The Street Memorials of the Abbey Parish
8. Private Edward Warner VC: The Straw Hat Maker from Cannon Street (you are here)
9. Between the Wars: Learning the Ritual
10. 1939 to 1945: Harpenden at War
11. 1939 to 1945: St Albans at War
12. Adding the Second World War Names
13. Remembrance Today: Services and Walks