[1] On the outbreak of World War I in 1914 Edwards enlisted in the Royal Sussex Regiment and by late 1915 he was in Bombay en route for Tekrit, where he worked to build the railway track between there and Baghdad.

The couple opened a stationer's shop and printing works in Balham, and Edwards tried to launch himself into a political career, standing for parliamentary and council seats as a Liberal candidate on several occasions, but with no success.

[1] Edwards became a spiritual healer when he attended a meeting at a spiritualist church in 1935 and was told by the mediums present that he had healing powers.

[2] During the Second World War Edwards served in the Home Guard and continued to run his printing business alongside his now growing practice as a healer.

At the same time he held a public demonstration in front of 6,000 people at the Royal Albert Hall to launch the '10 o'clock Healing Minute'.

The commission's report, published in 1958,[5] stated that neither the Church or the medical profession accepted the claims of spirit healers that they were responsible for successful healings.