Edward Bingham

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The Honourable Edward Barry Stewart Bingham VC OBE (born 26 July 1881 in Bangor, County Down, Ireland — 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.

Bingham, the son of Lord Clanmorris, entered the Royal Navy in 1895. At the beginning of the First World War, he was given command of HMS Invincible, 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. Leading his division in their attack, first on enemy destroyers and then on their battle cruisers of the German High Seas Fleet. Once the enemy was sighted Bingham ordered his own destroyer, HMS Nestor 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 the First World War.

Bingham was picked up by the Germans at Jutland, and remained a prisoner of war until the Armistice. After the war, he remained with the Royal Navy and retired as a Rear-Admiral in 1932. He was awarded an OBE. Bingham died in 1939, and is buried in the Golders Green cemetery in north-west London.

Bingham's Victoria Cross was auctioned by Sotheby's in 1983 and was purchased by the North Down Borough Council for £18,000, having outbid a Canadian millionaire. It is now valued at in excess of £100,000 due to the rarity of naval VCs. The medal is displayed at the North Down Heritage Centre, Bangor, Northern Ireland.