Bridges then fought in the First World War with the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, eventually achieving the rank of captain and being awarded the Military Cross.

Bridges remained in this post until 1946, when he was made Permanent Secretary to the Treasury and Head of the Home Civil Service, a position he held until 1956.

In his post-war memoirs, Winston Churchill praised Bridges' wartime work as Secretary to the War Cabinet, writing that not only was Bridges "an extremely competent and tireless worker, but he was also a man of exceptional force, ability, and personal charm, without a trace of jealousy in his nature".

He was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son Thomas Edward Bridges, a diplomat who served as British Ambassador to Italy from 1983 to 1987.

[8] In the 1946 Birthday Honours, Sir Edward was appointed to the Royal Victorian Order as a Knight Grand Cross (GCVO).