Edward Brooks VC (11 April 1883 ndash; 26 June 1944) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross.
He was 34 years old, and a Company Sergeant Major in the 2/4th Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 28 April 1917 at Fayet, near Saint-Quentin, France, Company Sergeant-Major Brooks, while taking part in a raid on the enemy's trenches, saw that the front wave was being checked by an enemy machine gun. On his own initiative he rushed forward from the second wave, killed one of the gunners with his revolver and bayoneted another. The remainder of the gun crew then made off, leaving the gun, whereupon the company sergeant-major turned it on the retreating enemy, after which he carried it back to Allied lines. His courageous action undoubtedly prevented many casualties and greatly added to the success of the operation.
Brooks received his Victoria Cross from the King on 18 July 1917, and on his return to Oxford was met at the railway station by the Mayor and Corporation and driven in a carriage preceded by the Headington Silver Band to Headington. After a presentation at Headington Manor House he returned to his home at 16 Windsor Street.