Serjeant Edgar Jennings MM- Later Lt/Col OBE- 2nd Btn Royal Warwickshire Regiment
We are honored to share the story of another man of the Regiment. Lt/Col Edgar Jennings OBE, 10th Parachute Regiment. However, in 1943, Jennings joined the British Army a month shy of his 18th birthday with the express desire to join the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, where he was promoted and reached the rank of Serjeant. On June 6th he landed as part of D Company, 2nd Battalion on Queen White
On the evening of June 6th, D Coy moved in to relieve the British glider troops holding Pegasus Bridge and Battalion dug in nothern Blainville and sent out fighting patrols.
Sjt Jennings, leading one of these patrols into Lebisey from the flank (I believe Eastern), performed stoically in the face of enemy fire, inflicting a number of casualties on the Germans in Lebisey before covering his patrols withdrawal. The entire action was conducted without British losses.
'The courage of this NCO in risking his life many times to cover the withdrawal of the men under his command serves as an example to all ranks', for his courage Sjt Jenning would be awarded the Military Medal.
Sjt Jennings' time after this becomes a little less known. We know that he was interviewed for a newspaper article while still in the Normandy countryside, and that he subsequently volunteered for, and was accepted into the Royal Marine Commando's and (we believe) the Special Air Service (SAS).
We also know (through family oral history) that he was badly wounded when a shell exploded nearby, splinters pierced his stomach and the explosion knocked him unconscious, burying him in his slit trench, he was only found 2 days later when his body was uncovered for identification and burial. He remained unconscious until coming to in a hospital in Liverpool and was later discharged on medical grounds in 1946.
Although discharged Jennings would continue his service through the cadets, retiring at the rank of Lt/Col of 10th Parachute Regiment. Lt/ Col OBE Jennings sadly passed away in 1984.
Copy of the Military Medal report