Lt. Roy B. Edge

Lt. Roy B. Edge, who recently gave his life to prevent civilian casualties in London, England, received high praise in a letter to his father, R.W. Edge, from Lt. Edward W. Davis, a fellow crewmember on Lt. Edge’s plane. Lt. Davis also sent a clipping from the London newspaper describing the manner in which Lt. Edge met his death. Although the newspaper did not mention the Gordon County hero’s name, Lt. Davis said that the clipping refers to Lt. Edge. Under the heading, “U.S. Pilot Died to Save Civilians,” the English newspaper article said:

“A pilot of a medium bomber of the United States Ninth Bomber Command on Thursday gave his life to prevent civilian casualties after his aircraft became disabled over London. He is to be recommended for a posthumous award of DSC, one of the highest decorations a member of the United States armed forces can receive. The bomber became disabled while flying at 4,500 feet over a thickly populated section of northeast London. The pilot, after ordering the four members of his crew to bail out, then attempted a crash landing at an aerodrome. The aircraft hit the runway but the approach was too fast to land. The pilot succeeded in pulling it up over a factory and a railway and then crashed into a garden. The rest of the crew landed safely.”