Edward Lawson VC (11 April 1873 – 2 July 1955) was an

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recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to

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and

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forces.

He was a

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in the 1st Battalion,

The Gordon Highlanders ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

during the

Tirah Campaign The Tirah campaign, often referred to in contemporary British accounts as the Tirah expedition, was an Indian frontier campaign from September 1897 to April 1898. Tirah is a mountainous tract of country in what was formally known as Federally ...

when the following deed took place on 20 October 1897 on the

Dargai Heights Dargai ( ps, درگئی; ur, ) is one of the tehsils of Malakand District (the other being Batkhela) in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It located on the main highway from Peshawar to Swat, Dir and Chitral. The town of ...

, for which he was awarded the VC: Private Lawson continued to serve with his regiment until 1902. He had a further period of military service serving as a Sergeant in the Northern Cyclist Battalion before and during the First World War. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Gordon Highlanders Museum in

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. There are two memorials to Edward Lawson in Newcastle upon Tyne. The first is a bench dedicated to him in Old Eldon Square by the war memorial. The second is a memorial to Newcastle's Victoria Cross recipients outside the Discovery Museum in the city's west end. Sometime after The First World War, Edward Lawson lived with his family in Parson's Avenue, Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne, having moved from the Heaton area of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Honours

References

Location of grave and VC medal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawson, Edward 1873 births 1955 deaths Military personnel from Newcastle upon Tyne British recipients of the Victoria Cross Gordon Highlanders soldiers British military personnel of the Tirah campaign British military personnel of the Chitral Expedition British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross