Have You a Tiger In Your Family?

Rank : Colonel

Army Number : 44846

Unit : 2nd Bn, 1st Bn, Depot

Biography :

Edward Croker was commissioned 2nd. Lieut. into The Leicestershire Regiment on30.1.1930, and was posted to A Coy 2nd Bn. He was in 1st Bn in India in 1931. Promoted Lieutenant 30.1.1933. Posted to the Depot in 1936 and then seconded to the Royal West African Frontier Force on 7.10.1936, serving in The Gambia and Sierra Leone. He returned to the Regimental ITC in August 1941. At some stage he was attached to the Parachute Regiment and on D Day was with its 12th Bn which, along with the 13th Bn, took the village of Ranville by airborne assault, this being recognised as the first village liberated in France. Awarded the M.C. (L.G. 21.12.1944) for his action as a Company Commander, 12th Bn Parachute Regt, Puten en Auge, France, 19 Jul 1944. Returning to the UK in September 1944, Croker returned to NW Europe during the period of the Ardennes Crisis, then returning to the UK in late February 1945. He took part in Operation Varsity (the crossing of the Rhine) on 24.3.1945 - this was the largest airborne assault of the war, and instigated the final collapse of the Third Reich in the West. Near Osnabrück on 6.4.1945 Croker was wounded by machine gun, suffering wounds to the forehead, left forearm and shoulder.
In May 1946 he was commanding a Parachute Regular Reserve Battalion in Dorset. In 1949 he was awarded 'passed staff college' (psc), and was on the staff of HQ 23 Inf Bde Group. Awarded the O.B.E. (L.G. 1.10.1951) for his work as GSO1, HQ Singapore Base District, Malaya, Nov 1949-May 1951. He was CO 18th Bn The Parachute Regiment (TA) from Aug 1952 up till 1954, whereafter he was serving in HQ 16th Airborne Division (TA). In 1957 he was Colonel (Special Ops) at SHAPE. He retired on 30.3.1958 and was granted the Honorary rank of Colonel. Ceased to belong to the Reserve of Officers on 21.6.1965. He died in about 1967-1968, aged 58 years. He was the great-grandson of Lt Col William Croker CB, CO The 17th Regiment 1838-47; grandson of Capt Edward Croker of the Regiment; and son of Maj-Gen Sir Henry Leycester Croker KCB CMG of The Leicestershire Regiment.
His medals (shown here and which include the Coronation Medals of 1937 and 1953) were sold at public auction in September 2018.

Date of Birth : 21.6.1910

Place of Birth : Hampshire

Date of Death : c1967/68

Period of Service : 1930-58

Conflicts : WW2

Places Served : UK, India, West Africa, France, Germany, Singapore, Malaya, France