25/09/2026
✨Thomas Edwin Adlam VC✨
This Sunday 27th September marks 110 years since Thomas Edwin Adlam was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions at Thiepval Ridge during the Battle of the Somme in 1916.
Before the war, Adlam trained as a teacher, gaining his qualification from the University of Wi******er, before taking up a teaching position in Basingstoke. In September 1912 he signed up for the Territorial Force. He would transfer into the Bedfordshire Regiment upon the outbreak of war, becoming Second Lieutenant in November 1915.
On 18th July 1916 he joined the 7th Battalion, and was posted to 'C' Company. The Battalion suffered heavy losses since the opening of the Somme, as they served in the front assaulting waves. Despite their losses, they were one of the few to successfully get into German trenches, taking three front lines and the heavily fortified Pommiers Redoubt. Adlam spent time in both the front lines and the reserve, leading up to the storming of Thiepval and the Schwaben Redoubt.
Adlam's mother unfortunately died whilst he was at the Somme. He chose to remain with his platoon, as he would not have been able to make it in time to her funeral service had he chosen to leave for England. This meant that he would be with the battalion at Thiepval, where he gained his VC.
The assault of Thiepval occurred between the mornings of 26th-27th September, closely followed by the assault on Schwaben Redoubt on 28th-29th September, to ensure that the regained allied lines were secured. Adlam was injured in the leg at Thiepval, but remained in the fight, rushing from shell hole to shell hole to collect men for an attack.
During the assault on Schwaben Redoubt, Adlam was noted for his skill at throwing grenades, thanks to having played a lot of cricket and developing a strong arm. Whilst in a shell hole in the middle of Schwaben, his men 'fed him with bombs', which he continued to throw into the German trenches until he ran out. He would wound his throwing arm, but 'reverted to using his other arm which was just as effective'! 2nd Lieutenant Adlam would not retire from the day's action until the arrival of his Commanding Officer, who insisted he remove himself due to his wounds.
Adlam did not know that he had been awarded the Victoria Cross at first. He was in Colchester recovering, and had spent an evening out with friends. Upon his return to the Orderly Room he discovered himself overwhelmed with congratulatory telegrams. He telephoned his father to ask what they were all about and why journalists were asking for his photograph, and his father gave him the news of his VC award.
In 1918 he transferred into the RAF and was preparing to embark for Singapore when news of the Armistice arrived. He served for a time in Ireland after the war, and, between 1922-1926 was the first chairman of the Bedfordshire branch of the British Legion. At some point in the 1920s he joined the Army Educational Corps, although his service was brief. He later returned to Hampshire, becoming headmaster at the village school in Blackmoor, where he lived with his wife, Ivy, and their four children.
Upon the outbreak of the Second World War he was recalled to the Army, this time serving in the Royal Engineers movement control section, as the Embarkation Commandant at Tilbury. He would also later move to Glasgow, reaching the rank of Colonel.
Thomas Adlam died on 28th May 1975, aged 81. He is buried in St. Matthew's Churchyard in Blackmoor, Hampshire.
