Maurice Edwards joined the fledgling Royal Air Force Chaplaincy Service. He was granted the relative rank of squadron leader on 1 August 1919, the relative rank of wing commander on 6 August 1929, and the relative rank of group captain on 6 August 1934. On 10 April 1940, he granted the relative rank of air commodore and appointed Chaplain-in- Chief, the most senior chaplain of the Royal Air Force. From 1944 to 1947, he was based at the Rother Vale Collieries, after which he became rector of Acton Burnell cum Pitchford, a post he held until his retirement in 1953. He died
Group captain rank titles, it was suggested that the RAF might use the Royal Navy's officer ranks, with the word "air" inserted before the naval rank title. For example, the rank that later became group captain would have been "air captain". Although the Admiralty objected to this simple modification of their rank titles, it was agreed that the RAF might base many of its officer rank titles on naval officer ranks with differing pre-modifying terms. It was also suggested that RAF colonels might be entitled "bannerets" or "leaders". However, the rank title based on the Navy rank was preferred and as RAF