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{{short description|Recipient of the Victoria Cross}}
{{EngvarB|date=January 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Sir Edward Pemberton Leach
|birth_date= 2 April 1847
|death_date= 27 April 1913 (aged 66)
|birth_place= [[County Londonderry]], Ireland
|death_place= [[Cadenabbia]], [[Lake Como]], Italy
|placeofburial= Griante Cemetery, via Independezia, Griante
|image= VCEdwardPembertonLeach.jpg
|caption= Gen. Sir Edward Leach
|nickname=
|allegiance= {{flagcountry|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}
|serviceyears=1866–1912
|rank= [[General (United Kingdom)|General]]
|branch= [[File:Flag of the British Army.svg|23px]] [[British Army]]
|commands= [[9th (Scottish) Division]] [[Scottish Command]]
|unit= [[Royal Engineers]]
|battles= [[Lushai Expedition]] [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]] [[Mahdist War]]
|awards= [[Victoria Cross]] [[Order of the Bath]] [[Royal Victorian Order]]}}

[[General (United Kingdom)|General]] '''Sir Edward Pemberton Leach''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|VC|KCB|KCVO}} (2 April 1847 – 27 April 1913) was an [[Irish people|Irish]] recipient of the [[Victoria Cross]], the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] forces.

==Early life==
Leach was born in County Londonderry, Ireland on 2 April 1847. He was educated at [[Highgate School]] in England.

==Military career==
Leach was [[Commissioned officer|commissioned]] into the [[Royal Engineers]] in 1866.<ref name=re>[http://www.remuseum.org.uk/vc/rem_vc_leach.htm Royal Engineers Museum] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090925050155/http://www.remuseum.org.uk/vc/rem_vc_leach.htm |date=25 September 2009 }}</ref>

He was 31 years old, and a [[Captain (land and air)|captain]] in the [[Corps of Royal Engineers]], [[British Army]] and with [[Bengal Sappers and Miners]] ([[British Indian Army]]) during the [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]] when the following deed took place on 17 March 1879 near Maidanah, [[Afghanistan]] for which he was awarded the VC.<ref name=vic>[https://www.victoriacross.org.uk/ccroyeng.htm The Royal Engineers Museum – Victoria Crosses held by the Royal Engineers Museum] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303172003/https://www.victoriacross.org.uk/ccroyeng.htm |date=3 March 2016 }}</ref>
{{quote|For having, in action with the Shinwarris near Maidanah, Afghanistan, on 17 March 1879, when covering the retirement of the Survey Escort who were carrying Lieutenant Barclay, 45th Sikhs, mortally wounded, behaved with the utmost gallantry in charging, with some men of the 45th Sikhs, a very much larger number of the enemy. In this encounter Captain Leach killed two or three of the enemy himself, and he received a severe wound from an Afghan knife in the left arm. Captain Leach's determination and gallantry in this affair, in attacking and driving back the enemy from the last position, saved the whole party from annihilation.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=24790|page=7265|date=9 December 1879}}</ref>}}

==Later life==
After this incident promotion followed and he was made [[Commander]] of 24 Field Company during the [[Suakin Expedition]] in 1885.<ref name=re/> He was promoted to [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]] on 1 October 1897. By 1899 he was [[General Officer Commanding]] [[Belfast]] in which capacity he founded the [[Ballykinlar]] training camp.<ref name=re/> He was appointed [[General Officer Commanding]] the 9th Division within [[III Corps (United Kingdom)|Third Army Corps]] in Ireland on 1 April 1902,<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=27434|page=3254| date=16 May 1902}}</ref> and served until 1905.<ref>[http://www.gulabin.com/armynavy/pdf/Army%20Commands%201900-2011.pdf Army Commands] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705211343/http://www.gulabin.com/armynavy/pdf/Army%20Commands%201900-2011.pdf |date=5 July 2015 }}</ref> Later that year, he was appointed [[General Officer Commanding]]-in-Chief for [[Scottish Command]] where he served from 1905 to 1909 before he retired in 1912.<ref name=re/>

Leach died in Cadenabbia, [[Lake Como]], Italy on 27 April 1913.<ref>''Who's Who 1914'' has his date of death as 26 April</ref> His younger daughter [[Elsie Pemberton Leach|Elsie Leach]] became a distinguished ornithologist.

==The medal==
His Victoria Cross is displayed at the [[Royal Engineers Museum]], [[Chatham, Kent|Chatham]], England.

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
'''Listed in order of publication year '''
*[[The Register of the Victoria Cross]] (1981, 1988 and 1997)
*{{cite journal|first=Brian D. H.|last=Clark|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]] {{ISBN|1-899243-00-3}} (Dept of Economic Development 1995)
*[[The Sapper VCs]] (Gerald Napier, 1998)
*[[Monuments to Courage]] (David Harvey, 1999)
*[[Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross]] (Richard Doherty & David Truesdale, 2000)

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061218200907/http://www.remuseum.org.uk/rem_his_vc.htm#1l Royal Engineers Museum] Sappers VCs

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef|before=}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[General Officer Commanding]] the 9th Division|years=1902–1905}}
{{s-aft|after=}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Charles Tucker (British Army officer)|Sir Charles Tucker]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Scottish Command|GOC-in-C Scottish Command]]|years=1905–1909}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Bruce Hamilton (British Army officer)|Sir Bruce Hamilton]]}}
{{end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leach, Edward Pemberton}}
[[Category:1847 births]]
[[Category:1913 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Irish people]]
[[Category:Irish officers in the British Army]]
[[Category:Military personnel from County Londonderry]]
[[Category:People educated at Highgate School]]
[[Category:British Army generals]]
[[Category:Irish recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order]]
[[Category:Bengal Sappers and Miners personnel]]
[[Category:Royal Engineers officers]]
[[Category:Second Anglo-Afghan War recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the Mahdist War]]
[[Category:British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Lushai Expedition]]

Edward Pemberton Leach - Revision history

Bot at 08:33, 12 May 2022