Edward Tooby was commissioned into the 7th Battalion The Worcestershire Regiment (TA) in March 1935 and served in that Battalion for the next 26 years, being the only officer to serve as such with the 7th Battalion throughout the whole of WW2.
In France before Dunkirk the Battalion had been transferred from the 48th to the 2nd Division and with that formation it went to India in 1942.
At the end of March 1944 the Division was hurried to Assam to help stave off the Japanese threat to the Indo-Burmese border defenses and shortly afterwards Edward took over 'B' Coy, which he was to command for the rest of the Kohima and Burma campaign and which was involved in 12 major actions, including those at the Naga Village and Kohima and at the Maram Spur, when they took the final objective. Of the latter his MC citation says 'Major Tooby led his company forward to assault the ridge, in spite of accurate enemy shell and machine-gun fire. It was entirely due to his personal leadership and fearlessness that the momentum of the attack was kept going.' Also cited was his conduct at Dawete, on the north bank of the Irrawaddy, when, with only two platoons, the Company held off prolonged, heavily-armed attacks throughout one night. 'Major Tooby paid constant visits to his section posts, with complete disregard for his own safety, thus steadying his men and urging them to hold on at all costs.' He was also Mentioned in Despatches for preventing the causeway into the moated town of Swebo being blown up by the Japanese, thus enabling the Company to capture the town.
Colonel E. R. W. Tooby
Colonel Tooby died at Drybridge, Churchill, Near Kidderminster, on the 29th March 1995, aged 78.