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Name Edwin Swales No. POSTHUMOUS
VC Issue No. 1312 Awards VC DFC
Regiment South African Air Force attached to No. 582 Squadron, Royal Air Force
Later
Now
Rank VC Won Captain
Rank End Of Career Major
Place Of Birth Inanda, Natal, South Africa
Place Of Death 2 miles south east of Denam (Belgium), near Valenciennes, France
Buried/Location Ashes Leopoldsburg War Cemetery, 12 miles north of Hasselt, Belgium, Limburg
Cremated
Date Buried/Cremated
Headstone Headstone (CWGC) Plot/Grave no. Plot VIII, Row C, Grave 5
Gazetted 24 April 1945
VC Presented No presentation
Memorials
P Headstone, Leopoldsburg War Cemetery, 12 miles north of Hasselt, Belgium, Limburg
P Named on RAF VC Memorial at St Clements Dane's Church, Aldwych, London
Named on South African Air Force Memorial, Bays Hill, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
Memorial Stone, Durban High School, Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa
Memorial Plaque, Memorial Wall, Natal Mounted Rifles HQ, Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa
P Named on Memorial Gates, Constitution Hill, Green Park, London
P Memorial Plaque, National Memorial Arboretum, Alrewas, Staffordshire
Swales Drive, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
By The Way…
He died following his VC action. Although his plane was severely damaged, he managed to reach friendly territory in order that his crew could bale out, plane then crashed and he was found dead at the controls
VC Held By
National Museum of Military History, Johannesburg, South Africa
BORN 3 July 1915
DIED 23 February 1945 AGE 29
VC Won 23 February 1945 AGE 29
Place VC Won over Pforzheim, Germany
War/Campaign Second World War
