Edward Bingham
{{short description|Decorated Irish-born British naval officer}}
{{other people}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix = Rear-Admiral The Honourable
| name = Edward Bingham
| birth_date = 26 July 1881
| death_date = 24 September 1939
| birth_place = Bangor Castle, County Down, Ireland, UK
| death_place = Central London, England, UK
| placeofburial = Golders Green cemetery, London
| image = File:Edward Barry Stewart Bingham.png
| nickname =
| allegiance = {{flagcountry|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|23px}}
| serviceyears = 1895–1932
| rank = Rear-Admiral
| branch = {{Navy|United Kingdom|23px}}
| commands =
| unit =
| battles = World War I
| awards = Victoria Cross
Order of the British Empire
Order of St. Stanislaus of Russia (2nd Class with swords)
| relations = John Bingham, 5th Baron Clanmorris (father)
}}
Rear-Admiral The Honourable Edward Barry Stewart Bingham, VC, OBE (26 July 1881 – 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.
Military career
The third son of Lord Clanmorris, Edward Bingham was born in Bangor Castle, County Down, Ireland. Educated at Arnold House{{cite web| url=https://www.llanddulasremembers.co.uk/arnold-house.php | title=Arnold House Preparatory School, Llanddulas | work=Llanddulas and Rhyd-y-Foel Remembers | access-date=16 February 2025 }} and in HMS Britannia, he entered the Royal Navy in 1895 as an acting sub-lieutenant. He was confirmed as a sub-lieutenant 15 March 1901.{{London Gazette |issue=27421 |date=1 April 1902 |page=2235 }} At the beginning of the First World War, he was appointed Commander (Executive Officer) of {{HMS|Invincible|1907|6}}, 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|1915|6}}, 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 World War I.{{London Gazette|issue=29751|supp=y|page=9067|date=15 September 1916}}
Bingham was picked up by the Germans at Jutland, and remained a prisoner of war (latterly at Holzminden) 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.
Family
In 1915, Bingham married Vera Patterson; they had a son and a daughter. The marriage was dissolved in 1937.
File:Sir Edward Bingham Mural, Kilcooley - geograph.org.uk - 1607261.jpg
Victoria Cross medal
Bingham's Victoria Cross was auctioned by Sotheby's in 1983 and was purchased by the North Down Borough Council, County Down, who outbid a Canadian millionaire. It is on display at the North Downs Museum in Bangor Castle.{{cite web|url = http://www.northdownmuseum.com/Collections/Bangor-Castle|title = North Down Museum|accessdate = 23 October 2013|archive-date = 14 December 2013|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131214033140/http://www.northdownmuseum.com/Collections/Bangor-Castle|url-status = dead}}
Bingham's Victoria Cross and his Order of St Stanislaus medal were both stolen by an opportunist thief in 2001. He was quickly caught and when the items were valued with help from the Imperial War Museum, at tens of thousands of pounds,{{cite news|url = https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/victoria-cross-theft-bid-thwarted/28359728.html|title = Victoria Cross theft bid thwarted| newspaper=Belfasttelegraph.co.uk | date=21 April 2001 |accessdate = 1 July 2024|archive-date = 1 July 2024|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240701225830/https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/victoria-cross-theft-bid-thwarted/28359728.html}} the thief was charged with a major theft.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}}
File:U-19 gun Ward Park Bangor inscription geograph.org.uk 405831 25c696df-by-Aubrey-Dale.jpg
References
{{reflist}}
- The Register of the Victoria Cross (1981, 1988 and 1997)
- {{cite journal|first=Brian D. H.|last=Clarke|title=A register of awards to Irish-born officers and men|journal=The Irish Sword|volume=XVI|issue=64|pages=185–287|year=1986}}
- Ireland's 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
{{Commons category|Edward Bingham}}
- {{Internet Archive author |sname=Edward Bingham |sopt=t}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090623050143/http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/stewart/golders.htm Location of grave and VC medal] (Golders Green)
- [http://www.iwm.org.uk/history/commander-barry-bingham-vc Commander Bingham's action at the Battle of Jutland] Imperial War Museums
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bingham, Edward}}
Category:Irish officers in the Royal Navy
Category:Anglicans from Northern Ireland
Category:20th-century Anglo-Irish people
Category:Royal Navy rear admirals
Category:Irish World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross
Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Category:British World War I prisoners of war
Category:Royal Navy recipients of the Victoria Cross
Category:World War I prisoners of war held by Germany
Category:Royal Navy officers of World War I
Category:People from Bangor, County Down
Category:Younger sons of barons