Edward Bingham

Rear Admiral Edward Barry Stewart Bingham VC, OBE (born 26 July 1881 in Bangor, County Down, Ireland — died 24 September 1939) served in the Royal Navy during the First World War and was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions in engaging the German fleet during the Battle of Jutland.

Bingham, the son of Lord Clanmorris, entered the Royal Navy in 1895. At the beginning of the First World War, he was appointed Commander (Executive Officer) of HMS "Invincible", which saw action at the Battle of the Falkland Islands in December 1914.

On 31 May, 1916, during the Battle of Jutland off Denmark, Commander Bingham was in command of a destroyer division. He led his division in their attack, first on enemy destroyers and then on the battle cruisers of the German High Seas Fleet. Once the enemy was sighted Bingham ordered his own destroyer, HMS "Nestor", and the one remaining destroyer of his division, HMS "Nicator", to close to within 2,750 meters of the opposing battle fleet so that he could bring his torpedoes to bear. While making this attack "Nestor" and "Nicator" were under concentrated fire of the secondary batteries of the German fleet and "Nestor" was subsequently sunk. For his actions, Bingham earned the Victoria Cross, one of relatively few awarded for naval bravery during the First World War.

Bingham was picked up by the Germans at Jutland, and remained a prisoner of war until the Armistice. After the war, he remained with the Royal Navy and retired as a Rear Admiral in 1932. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. Bingham died in 1939, and is buried in the Golders Green cemetery in northwest London.

Bingham's Victoria Cross was auctioned by Sotheby's in 1983 and was purchased by the North Down Borough Council for £18,000, having outbid a Canadian millionaire. It is now valued at in excess of £100,000 due to the rarity of naval VCs. The medal is displayed at the [http://www.northdown.gov.uk/heritage/ North Down Heritage Centre] , Bangor, Northern Ireland.

References

*The Register of the Victoria Cross (1981, 1988 and 1997)
*The Irish Sword (Brian Clarke 1986)
*Irelands VCs (Dept of Economic Development 1995)
*Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
*Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross (Richard Doherty & David Truesdale, 2000)

External links

* [http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/stewart/golders.htm Location of grave and VC medal] "(Golders Green)"