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COMMEMORATIVE VICTORIA CROSS PAVING STONES ~ VICTORIA EMBANKMENT GARDENS WHITEHALL EXTENSION LONDON
During a visit to London I went to view these paving stones commemorating twelve London born recipients of the Victoria Cross. They had been unveiled on or close to the 100th Anniversary of the day on which each recipient had performed their act of conspicuous gallantry for which they were awarded the Victoria Cross. Those who are commemorated in the gardens are as follows with brief biographical details.
Lieutenant Frank de Pass V.C. ~ 34th Prince Albert Victor’s Own Poona Horse
Frank Alexander de Pass was born in London on the 26th April, 1887, the son of Eliot and Beatrice de Pass of 23 Queen’s Gate Terrace. Frank, one of three sons was educated at the Abbey School Beckenham and Rugby School. He entered the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich in 1904 and was commissioned into the Royal Field Artillery in January 1906. In 1909 whilst stationed in India he was promoted to Lieutenant. He applied for and gained a commission in the 34th Prince Albert Victor’s Own Poona Horse having learnt to speak Hindustani and Persian. He was appointed Orderly Officer to Sir Percy Lake, Chief of the General Staff in India with the local rank of Captain in 1913.
The 34th Poona Horse, were mobilised for war on the 9th August 1914, part of the 2nd Indian Cavalry Division, Secunderabad Brigade and Frank de Pass rejoined his regiment in early September 1914. They embarked on the transport ship at Bombay on the 15th September but due to unforeseen circumstances sailed for France five days later. They disembarked at Marseilles on the 15th October and by the beginning of November found themselves in action at Neuve Chapelle. During the First Battle of Ypres, a sector held by the Indian Corps was subjected to an intense German heavy bombardment, and infantry attacks. The enemy penetrated part of the line to the west of Neuve Chapelle held by the 2nd Gurkhas. The only reserve available was three squadrons of the 34th Poona Horse who had just arrived at the front. They were led into action 2 dismounted by their commanding officer Lieutenant-Colonel C.O. Swanston D.S.O., who was the first to be killed.
The 34th Poona Horse’s initiation into the First World War was intense and after heavy fighting in the First Battle of Ypres the Indian Corps strength was considerably depleted. The Secunderabad Cavalry Brigade, consisting of the 20th Deccan Horse, 34th Poona Horse and 7th Dragoon Guards were the only reserves left and they were sent to occupy trenches at Festubert, a village to the east of Bethune to relieve the infantry in mid-November. The action which led to the award of the Victoria Cross to Lieutenant de Pass is extracted from the Regiments War Diary. The entries for the 23rd to 26th November 1914 are as follows:
‘Oblinghem
‘23rd November – A detachment of 180 men. Capt. Grimshaw, Capt. Alderson, Lt de Pass attached to Ferozepore Brigade for duty in trenches – owing to a local attack by the Germans & consequent counter attack 130 men. Major Molloy, Capt. Lucas & Hildabrand were sent with troops of Cav. Bde. to ast [assist] as supports to the Ferozepore Brigade.
‘24th November – Party under Major Molloy returned to billets about 8 a.m. – detachment under Capt. Grimshaw occupied a portion of the line of trenches – casualties during day killed 2 wounded 10.
‘25th November – Capt. Grimshaws detachment in trenches no casaulites.
‘26th November – 114? 130 men Major Molloy, Major Loring & Capt. Hildabrand Machine Gun Section returned Capt. Grimshaws detachment during night 26/27. A report by Capt. Grimshaw is attached in Appendix B1 a copy of which was forwarded to Sec.Bde. for information’.
The report in (Appendix B1) submitted to the Brigade Major by Captain R.W.W. (Roly) Grimshaw (1879-1932) commanding D Squadron, Poona Horse, reads:-
‘Lt de Pass
‘On arrival in the trenches at 4 a.m. 23rd it was determined that the enemy had driven a sap up to the parapet of that part of the trenches allotted to the Poona Horse. The enemy had blown in the main parapet and a breach of 8 feet in length existed turning the trench exposed to sniper fire from the sap. A troop was told off to hold this until daylight when a careful inspection could be made with stress to erect a barrier at once to cover themselves from rifle fire. Lt de Pass asked permission to have the defence of this breech placed under his orders. The request was granted. As soon as it was daylight O.C. Detche (detachment) Poona Horse inspected the trenches in 3 order to ascertain what was in the sap called for a volunteer to enter and proceed along towards the enemy’s lines and enter into the sap. He returned and reported that the enemy had erected a sand bag traverse about 30 yards from the trenches at a point where the sap makes its first bend and that a man with an rifle was at a loop hole. At 8 a.m. the enemy commenced throwing bombs into our trenches from their side of this loop holed traverse. This continued all day and caused several casualties. Early on the morning of the 24th Lt de Pass accompanied by Sowar Fateh Khan and Firman Shah entered the enemy’s sap and proceeding along it Lt de Pass placed a charge of gun cotton in the enemy’s loop hole and fired the charge completely demolishing the enemy’s traverse and narrowing off the bend sufficiently to expose from some 30 yards, the sap to our rifle fire. In doing this enemy threw a bomb at de Pass’s party which fortunately missed and exploded behind them. This action of Lt de Pass stopped all bomb throwing by the enemy during the 24th inst. Effect can better be gauged by the fact that there was only 1 casualty that day compared with 6 the day before and 9 the next day when under cover of darkness night of 24/25 enemy replaced their loop holed sandbag traverse. The same day Lt de Pass accompanied by a trooper (Private Cook) of 7 D.G. went out in broad daylight and brought in a sepoy of the 58th Rifles who as lying wounded in rear of our trenches about 200 yards distance. Lt de Pass did not ask permission to do this and did it on his own initiative when paying a visit to 7th D.G defences. Lt de Pass again volunteered to enter the enemy’s sap and blow up the traverse but permission as refused. About 3 p.m. 26th the bomb throwing by the enemy became worse and Lt de Pass went to the head of the sap to supervise repairs to our defences. He endeavoured to shoot the enemy’s sniper though a loop hole and in doing so got shot himself through the head. I consider that Lt de Pass conduct throughout was most intrepid and that his actions were a magnificent example to the men of the detachment’.
‘Capt. Grimshaw, Comding. D Sqd. Poona Horse’
Captain Grimshaw also brought to the attention of the Brigade Major the gallant conduct of the troopers who accompanied de Pass and other Indian troopers for their actions at Festubert in a separate report. He also wrote letters to Lt de Pass’s parents and fiancée.
On the 24th November 1914* Lieutenant de Pass was killed in action aged 27 and for his conspicuous gallantry on that day he was awarded the Victoria Cross. London Gazette, 18th February 1915. “Frank Alexander de Pass, Lieutenant, late 34th Poona Horse. Date of Act of Bravery 24th November 1914. For conspicuous bravery near Festubert on 24th November 1914 in entering a German sap and destroying a traverse in the face of the enemy’s bombers and for subsequently rescuing under heavy fire, a wounded man who was lying exposed in the open. 4
Lieutenant de Pass lost his life on this day in a second attempt to capture the aforementioned sap, which had been re-occupied by the enemy.”
Lieutenant de Pass was buried in Bethune Cemetery by his comrades in the late afternoon of 7th December 1914 in pouring rain. He now lies in Bethune Town Cemetery, Plot 1, Row A, Grave No.24.
The War Dairy entry for the 21st February 1915 records: ‘The London Gazette contained the name of Lt. F.A. de Pass granted the Victoria Cross for conspicuous bravery near Festubert on 24th November’.
There was no formal presentation of the Victoria Cross to Frank de Pass’s father who through ill-health was unable to attend an investiture. The Victoria Cross was sent to him by post.
The Victoria Cross medal group of Lieutenant F.A. de Pass is in the possession of the National Army Museum. He is commemorated on the Bevis Marks Synagogue War Memorial in the City of London and on the Rugby School War Memorial
*Due perhaps to the ‘fog of war’ the date of Lieutenant de Pass’s death is given by the CWGC as the 25th November; the London Gazette citation has the 24th November; Captain Grimshaw’s report in the War Dairy and his own personal diary is the 26th November.
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Lieutenant William Barnard Rhodes-Moorhouse V.C. ~ Royal Flying Corps
William Barnard Rhodes-Moorhouse was born in London on the 26th September 1887 the son of Edward and Mary Moorhouse. He was educated at a preparatory school, Harrow and Trinity College Cambridge. William had an affinity with all things mechanical, especially engines and speed. He drove in a number of motor car races and learnt to fly, gaining his Royal Aero Club Certificate in 1911. With a close friend, James Radley they built a Radley-Moorhouse monoplane, the design based on a Blériot XI aircraft. William went to America where he piloted a 50hp Gnome-engined Blériot in cross-country air races and won the prestigious Harbor Prize.
In June 1912 he married Linda Morritt at St Paul’s Church, Knightsbridge, and later they had one son William, who was killed during the Battle of Britain in September 1940. At the end of July he piloted, with his wife and a journalist as passengers, a Breguet biplane from Douai in France to the UK. The 130- mile flight ended with a crash landing, near Bethersden, Kent. None of the aircraft’s occupants were injured. It was the first cross-channel flight carrying two passengers. On the outbreak of the First World War he joined the Royal Flying Corps at South Farnborough in August 1914. In March 1915 he joined No.2 Squadron at Merville, France. Initially, he undertook observation and photographic missions. On the 26th April 1915 he bombed the railway lines near Courtrai railway station and was mortally wounded, but returned to his aerodrome and reported the details of his patrol. William died the following day aged 27 years. For his conspicuous bravery he was awarded the Victoria Cross, the first to an airman to receive the award. London Gazette, 22nd May 1915: Second-Lieutenant William Barnard Rhodes-Moorhouse, Special Reserve, Royal Flying Corps. “For most conspicuous bravery on the 26th April 1915, flying to Courtrai and dropping bombs on the railway line near that station. On starting the return journey he was mortally wounded, but succeeded in flying 35 miles to his destination, at a very low altitude, and reported the successful accomplishment of his object. He has since died of his wounds.” He was also Mentioned in Despatches in May 1915 and was promoted to Lieutenant effective from the 24th April – the notification being posthumous. 6
His body was returned to England after permission was obtained by Brigadier-General Hugh Trenchard from the Commanding Officer of the BEF, Field Marshal Sir John French. In 1913 under the terms of his maternal grandfather’s Will, Rhodes was added to his surname. Lieutenant William Barnard Rhodes-Moorhouse V.C., R.F.C. was buried in the grounds of his family home at Parnham House, Dorset.
He is commemorated on the Roll of Honour in St Clement Danes Church, London; Harrow School; RAF Museum at Hendon; on the War Memorial in Langport Churchyard, Northamptonshire; Roll of Honour in St Mary’s Church, and Church War Memorial, Beaminster; Beaminster War Memorial in the town square; St Andrew’s Churchyard and Roll of Honour Spratton, Northamptonshire; Memorial Paving Stone in the Memorial Garden’s at Spratton, Northamptonshire; Roads & Streets named after Rhodes-Moorhouse in Harrow and Leighton Buzzard; Rhodes Place & Moorhouse Street, Tradale, Napier, New Zealand.
A Memorial Centenary Paving Stone was unveiled during a church commemoration and remembrance service at St Mary’s Church Beaminster on the 26th April 2015. The stone was later placed adjacent to Beaminster’s Town War Memorial. The London Centenary Memorial Paving Stone was unveiled on the 27th April. Lieutenant William Barnard Rhodes-Moorhouse Victoria Cross medal group is on display in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery at the Imperial War Museum.
A fuller account about William, can be seen in an article – ‘A Hill Top Grave For V.C.’ – on the Wessex Branch WFA Web-Site www.wessexwfa.org.uk
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Lance Corporal Leonard Maurice Keysor V.C. ~ 1st Battalion, Australian Imperial Force.
Leonard Maurice Keysor was born on the 3rd November 1885 in London the son of Benjamin and Julia Keysor. He was the third of five children and was educated at Townley Castle, Ramsgate. In 1904 he went to Canada and ten years later went to Australia where his brother and sister were living and became employed as a clerk. Shortly after the outbreak of the First World War he enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force on the 18th August, 1914 as a Private in the 1st Battalion. The battalion after basic training embarked in October for Egypt, where they were deployed in the defence of the Suez Canal. On the 25th April 1915 the 1st Battalion landed at Gallipoli.
On the 20th June Leonard Keysor was promoted to Lance-Corporal and in August fought in the fierce and bitter battles of Lone Pine. The Battalion was tasked in August to undertake a diversionary attack in which the troops fought the Turks for most of the day and captured the enemy’s trenches. Intense and close fighting ensued over the next few days as the Turks tried to regain their lost trenches. Between the 7th and 8th August Keysor a great risk picked up Turkish bombs and hurled them back into the enemy’s trenches. Although wounded he chose to remain rather than seek medical aid and continued to throw bombs for another company. For his conspicuous gallantry at Lone Pine he was awarded the Victoria Cross.
London Gazette, 15th October 1915. “Leonard Keysor No.958 Private, 1st Battalion Australian Imperial Force. For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty at, Lone Pine trenches in the Gallipoli Peninsula. On the 7th August 1915, he was in a trench which was being heavily bombed by the enemy. He picked up two lives bombs and threw them back at the enemy at great risk to his own life and continued throwing bombs, although himself wounded thereby saving a portion of the trench which it was most important to hold. On 8th August at the same place, Private Keysor successfully bombed the enemy out of a position from which a temporary mastery over his own trench had been obtained and was again wounded. Although marked for 8 hospital he declined to leave and volunteered to throw bombs for another party which had lost its bomb throwers. He continued to bomb the enemy till the situation was relieved.”
Later he was diagnosed with enteric fever and was evacuated from Gallipoli. On the 15th January 1916 he received his Victoria Cross from King George V at an investiture ceremony held at Buckingham Palace. The 1st Battalion was transferred to France in early 1916 where Lance- Corporal Keysor rejoined his battalion and participated in the Battle of Pozieres. In November 1916, he was transferred to the 42nd Battalion and promoted to Sergeant the following month. He was commissioned as a Second-Lieutenant in January 1917 and then to Lieutenant in June. During March 1918 he was again wounded and gassed at Villers-Bretonneux in May. He was returned to Australia in October to take part in a recruiting campaign and was medically discharged from the Army in December. A few months later he returned to England and in 1920 married Gladys Benjamin and joined the family watchmaking business. He re-enacted his actions at Lone Pine for the 1927 film ‘For Valour’ and was injured by a dummy flash charge. Leonard had remained in the Australian Military Forces Reserves of Officers and he tried to rejoin the Army on the outbreak of the Second World War, but was rejected due to his health.
On the 12th October 1951, aged 65 years Leonard Keysor died of cancer and was cremated four days later at Golders Green Cemetery, London. His ashes were placed in a niche in the Hall of Memory. In 1977 his Victoria Cross medal group, was purchased by the Returned Services League and are now on display at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. He is commemorated on the Victoria Cross Memorial at Golders Green Cemetery; at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra; a plaque in the Garden of Remembrance Rockwood Cemetery, Sydney, New South Wales; on the War Memorial at the Queen Victoria Building, Sydney.
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Lieutenant Colonel John Vaughn Campbell V.C. ~ 3rd Battalion, Coldstream Guards.
John Vaughan Campbell was born in London on the 31st October, 1876 the son of the Honourable Captain Ronald Campbell and his wife Katherine. Captain Ronald Campbell, Coldstream Guards, son of the 2nd Earl of Cawdor was killed three years later in the Zulu War. John Vaughan Campbell was educated at Eton and at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards as a Second Lieutenant in September 1896. Promoted to Lieutenant two years later, he served in the Boer War 1899-1902 and was twice Mentioned in Despatches, received the Queen’s South Africa Medal with six clasps, the King’s South African Medal with two clasps and the Distinguished Service Order for his service in South Africa. In June 1903 he was promoted to Captain and ten years later to Major. He married in 1904 Amy Penn at the Wellington Barracks Chapel, and the couple later had two children, a daughter and son who, was killed in the Second World War. They lived at Broom Hall, Oswestry where John Campbell was Master of the local hunt. A few days before the outbreak of the First Word War he became a Temporary Lieutenant-Colonel and received the Brevet of Lieutenant-Colonel on the 1st January 1916.
On the 15th September the attacking brigades of the Guards Division formed up amid the battle- torn and shattered village of Ginchy. The outlined battle plan of the Fourth Army in this sector of the Somme battlefield was to capture and occupy the enemy’s positions between Morval and Le Sars. This task was allotted to the 2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards and 3rd Battalion, Coldstream of the 1st Guards Brigade. On moving forward they were to secure the first three objectives and allow the 1st Battalion, Irish Guards to pass through them and capture the fourth line. The 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Guards were tasked to form a defensive flank covering the left side of the attack. At 0620 hours the 1st Guards Brigade followed thirty yards behind the creeping barrage. Almost immediately they came under heavy machine-gun fire from a sunken road section of the Flers-Ginchy road, the two Coldstream Guards battalions in particular 10 sustaining heavy casualties. The second-in-command and adjutant of the 3rd Battalion were killed, as the guardsmen struggled against the tenacious enemy. Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell commanding the 3rd Battalion quickly assessed the situation and became aware that any further progress would be held up unless the sunken road was freed from German control. He had with him a hunting horn which he sounded to encourage the guardsmen to keep advancing. They responded and overpowered the Germans and continued their advance as far as the enemy’s third line which they captured. However, amid the confusion of battle they had in fact only reached the first German line. Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell ordered the battalion to move forward again in the direction of Les Bouefs under intense enemy fire, which briefly stalled their advance. Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell again sounded his hunting horn and the guardsman fought on and reached the third German line. Campbell was eager to keep the forward momentum going to capture Les Bouefs but permission was denied and he was ordered to consolidate the position gained. Although the cost in lives was high for his prompt and decisive actions under heavy fire he was awarded the Victoria Cross.
London Gazette 26th October 1916: “John Vaughan Campbell, Major, and Brevet Lieutenant- Colonel (Temporary Lieutenant-Colonel) Coldstream Guards. For most conspicuous bravery and able leading in attack. Seeing that the first two waves of his battalion had been decimated by machine-gun and rifle fire, he took personal command of the third line, rallied his men with the utmost gallantry and led them against the enemy machine guns, capturing the guns and killing the personnel. Later in the day, after consultation with other unit commanders, he again rallied the survivors of his battalion and at a critical moment led them through a very heavy hostile fire barrage against the objective. He was one the first to enter the enemy trench. His personal gallantry and initiative at a very critical moment turned the fortunes of the day and enabled the division to press on and capture objectives of the highest tactical importance.” The fact that Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell sounded his hunting horn to rally his men, he became known as the ‘Tally Ho V.C’
He received his Victoria Cross from King George V at Buckingham Palace on the 14th November 1916 and two days later as a Temporary Brigadier-General was transferred to command the 137th Brigade, 46th (North Midland) Division. Awarded the C.M.G., he was also Mentioned in Despatches. In early November 1918 he became the General-Officer- Commanding the 3rd Guards Brigade until March 1919 when he commanded the South Division Army of Occupation for a year and again Mentioned in Despatches. He was appointed in 1919 A.D.C. to King George V, a post he held until retirement in 1933 and given the Honorary rank of Brigadier-General. In October 1926, when the Guards Memorial was unveiled he was one of 11 seven recipients of the Victoria Cross present at the ceremony. His wife Amy died in 1927 and ten years later he married Margaret Tennyson-Smith at St John’s Church, Bournemouth and lived at Benwell House, Woodchester, near Stroud.
From August 1939 to February 1942 he served as a Honorary Flight Lieutenant in the RAFVR and then commanded the 8th Gloucestershire Battalion, Home Guard until May 1944. John Vaughan Campbell died at his home on the 22nd May 1944 aged 67 years. He was cremated at Cheltenham Crematorium and his ashes were scattered into the River Findhorn on the Cawdor Estate. A plaque was later erected at Cawdor Parish Church. His Victoria Cross medal group is in the possession of The Guards Regimental Headquarters, Coldstream Guards.
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Second Lieutenant John Spencer Dunville ~ 1st (Royal) Dragoons
John Spencer Dunville was born on the 7th May, 1896 at 46 Portland Place, Marylebone, London the son of Lieutenant-Colonel John Dunville (later Wing Commander CBE RAF) and his wife Violet. Their family home was at Holywood, County Down, Northern Ireland and his father was chairman of whiskey distillers Dunville & Company. John Spencer Dunville was educated at Ludgrove School, Berkshire and Eton College, where he was a member of the Officers Training Corps. Instead of going to Trinity College, Cambridge, he joined the Army on the 16th September, 1914 and enlisted as a Second Lieutenant in the 5th Reserve Regiment of Cavalry. He served on the Western Front with the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons from June 1915 and fought in the Battle of Loos in September. He transferred as a Second Lieutenant to the 1st Royal Dragoons on the 4th January 1916. In April he was invalided to the United Kingdom having been diagnosed with trench fever. He returned to the Western Front on the 22nd December 1916 and in April 1917 participated in the Battle of Arras.
On the 24th-25th June 1917 the 1st Royal Dragoons had been deployed near Epehy where Second Lieutenant Dunville led a raid on German trenches north of St Quentin approximately half-a-mile in front of the Royal Dragoons outpost line. His detachment was composed of two parties of fifty troops and three sappers with Bangalore torpedoes for the purpose of creating gaps in the enemy’s wire entanglements. As they moved forward they came upon a low belt of wire which was cut by hand and Dunville with the three sappers rushed on towards the main wire. In so doing one of the torpedoes was damaged and had to be repaired. Dunville placed himself in front of a sapper who was carrying out the repair. The enemy had become aware of their presence and began to hurl grenades and fired upon them with their rifles. Despite this the Bangalore torpedoes were placed beneath the enemy wire and detonated. Dunville and the sappers withdrew as the assaulting party moved forward but due to intense enemy fire they were unable to get through the gap made in the wire by the explosion. Dunville himself was severely wounded in left arm and chest, but he managed to get back to the outpost 13 line. He was taken to hospital at Villers-Faucon where his arm was amputated. He died later during the night of the 26th June, aged 21 years. For his conspicuous gallantry he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
London Gazette 1st August 1917. “John Spencer Dunville, Second Lieutenant late 1st Royal Dragoons. For most conspicuous bravery. When in charge of a party consisting of scouts and Royal Engineers engaged in the demolition of the enemy’s wire this officer displayed great gallantry and disregard of all personal danger. In order to ensure the absolute success of the work entrusted to him Second Lieutenant Dunville placed himself between an N.C.O. of the Royal Engineers and the enemy’s fire and thus protected this N.C.O. was enabled to complete a work of great importance. Second Lieutenant Dunville, although severely wounded continued to direct his men in the wire cutting and general operations until the raid was successfully completed thereby setting a magnificent example of courage, determination and devotion to duty to all ranks under his command. This gallant officer has since succumbed to his wounds.” Second Lieutenant John Spencer Dunville V.C., lies buried in Villers-Faucon Communal Cemetery, near Péronne, France – Plot A, Grave No.21.
On the 29th August, 1917 at a ceremony held at Buckingham Palace, King George V presented to Lieutenant-Colonel John Dunville his sons posthumous Victoria Cross. Second Lieutenant J.S. Dunville V.C., is commemorated on the War Memorial at Holywood County Down; has his name on the family grave in Holywood Priory Churchyard; a plaque and memorial window in St Mary’s Church, Holywood; on the VC & GC Memorial at Eton College; a painting in the Warrant Officer’s and N.C.O.s’ Mess at Combermere Barracks, Windsor. His Victoria Cross medal group is in the possession of Household Cavalry Museum.
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Captain Thomas Riversdale Colyer-Fergusson V.C. ~ 2nd Battalion, The Northamptonshire Regiment.
Thomas Riversdale Colyer-Fergusson was born in London on the 18th February 1896, the third son of Thomas and Beatrice Colyer-Fergusson. Thomas’s mother died in 1902 and his father later remarried. His father had been a High Sheriff of Kent and had two residences, Wombwell Hall, at Gravesend and Ighthan Mote near Sevenoaks, Kent. Thomas, junior had five other siblings, Max, Mary, William, Phillis and Beatrice. His elder brother Max was killed during the Second World War. Thomas Riversdale Colyer-Fergusson was educated at Summerfields School, Oxford and Harrow. In 1914 he had intended to pursue his studies at Oriel College, Oxford. Instead after the outbreak of the First World War he enlisted into the 16th Middlesex (Public Schools) Battalion in September. He applied for a temporary commission in February 1915 and was posted to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment. Two days later he was granted a temporary commission in the Special Reserve. In December he went to France having been posted to the 2nd Battalion and applied in February 1916 for a permanent commission which was granted on the 4th July. Three days later he was wounded at Contalmaison when ‘A’ and ‘B’ Companies moved forward from Crucifix Trench towards the village. After being evacuated to the United Kingdom he was declared fit for active service and rejoined his battalion in November. Promoted at the age of 20 years to acting Captain he was given command of ‘B’ Company, 2nd Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment, part of the 24th Brigade, 23rd Division. In February 1917 he led an attack at Bouchavesnes as the Germans withdrew to the Hindenburg Line.
On the night of 30th-31st July 1917, the battalion moved into their assembly positions at Bellewarde Ridge. The 2nd Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment, were part of General Sir Hubert Gough’s Fifth Army whose 8th, 24th and 30th Divisions were to capture the strongly defended Gheluvelt Plateau. The task given to the 2nd Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment, 24th Brigade, 8th Division was to capture one of the many enemy observation posts on the 15
Bellewarde Ridge. Ten minutes before 0400 hours the barrage commenced and companies of the 2nd Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment moved forward. The barrage had been effective in damaging enemy trenches and destroying wire entanglements. As ‘B’ Company approached the ridge they began to fall behind the barrage which hampered their progress. To their front was Jacob Trench protected by a machine-gun emplacement, undamaged by the barrage. Captain Colyer-Fergusson realized the danger of the situation and gathered together ten men including his orderly, Private B. Ellis and Sergeant W.G. Boulding. They rushed forward protected by the shell-fire of the barrage and entered the enemies position. As they did so a company of Germans were observed and a number of them were shot down before the rest surrendered. The remainder of Colyer-Fergusson’s company followed up as an enemy machine-gun opened fire. Accompanied by his orderly they charged forward and captured the machine-gun and turned it onto a number of the enemy, killing several and forcing them to withdraw towards another British unit. Shortly afterwards Captain Colyer-Fergusson, with his orderly and Sergeant Boulding then captured another enemy machine-gun. For their bravery Sergeant Boulding and Private Ellis were later awarded the DCM.
By 0600 hours, Captain Colyer-Fergusson had reported to his commanding officer that the Bellewarde Ridge position was being consolidated and was given orders for ‘B’ and ‘C’ Companies to advance a further 100-200 yards to establish an outpost line. Whilst he was organizing the troops to move forward he was shot by a sniper and died shortly afterwards aged 21 years. For his conspicuous conduct in attack he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
London Gazette 6th September 1917: “Thomas Riversdale Colyer-Fergusson, Second Lieutenant (acting Captain), 2nd Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment. For most conspicuous bravery, skillful leading and determination in attack. The tactical situation having developed contrary to expectation it was not possible for his company to adhere to the original plan of deployment and owing to the difficulties of the ground and to enemy wire, Captain Colyer-Fergusson found himself with a Sergeant and five men only. He carried out the attack, nevertheless succeeded in capturing the enemy trench and disposing of the garrison. His party was then threatened by a heavy counter-attack from the left front, but this attack he successfully resisted. During this operation, assisted by his Orderly only, he attacked and captured an enemy machine gun and turned it on the assailants, many of whom were killed and a large number were driven into the hands of an adjoining British unit. Later, assisted only by his Sergeant, he again attacked and captured a second enemy machine-gun by which time he had been joined by other portions of his company and was enabled to consolidate his position. The conduct of this officer throughout 16 forms an amazing record of dash, gallantry and skill, for which no reward can be too great having regard to the importance on the position won. This gallant officer was shortly afterwards killed by a sniper.”
Captain Thomas Riversdale Colyer-Fergusson V.C., lies buried in Menin Road South Military Cemetery, Belgium – Plot II, Row E. Grave No.1. On the 20th October, 1917 his father received his sons posthumous Victoria Cross from King George V at a ceremony held at Buckingham Palace. Captain Thomas Riversdale Colyer-Fergusson V.C., is commemorated at Harrow School; a plaque and memorial window in St Peter’s Church Ightham; on the Ightham War Memorial; in the chapel of Ightham Mote; on the War Memorial at Oriel College; on the Roll of Honour and War Memorial at Summersfield School. His Victoria Cross medal group is in the possession of the Northamptonshire Regimental Museum.
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Lieutenant Denis George Wyldbore Hewitt V.C. ~ 14th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment.
Denis George Wyldbore Hewitt was born in London on the 18th December 1897 the son of the Honourable George Wyldbore and Elizabeth Hewitt. The family home Field House, is in the village of Hursley near Winchester. Initially educated at the Old Malthouse Preparatory School Swanage, he went to Winchester College in 1911 and leaving four years later he entered the Royal Military College Sandhurst. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on the 1st April 1916 into the 2nd Battalion, Hampshire Regiment and later attached to the 14th Battalion, 116th Brigade, 39th Division in France in September. The 14th (Service) Battalion, 1st Portsmouth was formed at Portsmouth in 1914 as part of the 121st Brigade, 40th Division and in April 1915 was transferred to the 116th Brigade, 39th Division. The battalion during April 1916 had undertaken tours of duty in the trenches at Givenchy and later at Cuinchy and Festubert, with rest periods at Riez du Vinage or Annequin. In August they arrived at the Somme and participated in attacks on the Ancre front at Beaumont Hamel. They were deployed north of the Ancre in mid- September, the month in which 2nd Lieutenant Hewitt arrived in France, and then at the Schwaben Redoubt in early November. At the end of the month they moved to the Ypres sector where they underwent further training interspersed with recreational activities. From late December 1916 and the early months of 1917 they carried out tours of duty in the trenches.
At the end of July the 116th and 117th Brigades of the 39th Division, were tasked to capture four of the five divisional objectives near St Julien up to the ‘Green Dotted Line’ 200 yards onward from the other side of the Steenbeek. The final objective was the Green Line to the north-east and also St Julien which were to be captured by the 118th Brigade. The 14th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment’s first objective was the ‘Black Line’, then 200 yards further on the ‘Black Dotted Line’ on the rising slope of the Steenbeek and lastly the ‘Green Dotted Line’. The troops advance at 0350 hours on the 31st July following the barrage. The 11th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment had taken the first objective ‘Blue Line’ enabling the 14th Battalion, Hampshire 18
Regiment to pass through them onward to the ‘Black Line’. The ground over which they had to pass had been previously fought over. In front of the ‘Blue Line’ was, Mousetrap Farm and Hampshire Farm. The irregular placement of German defensive positions and strong points caused problems for the battalion to capture and broke up their attacking formation, although they took both the ‘Black’ and ‘Black Dotted Lines’ and also the ‘Green Dotted Line’ against determined enemy opposition. When the battalion had captured the ‘Black Line’ Second Lieutenant Hewitt got his men back into formation and waited for the barrage to lift. A shell burst close to him and fragments hit him and ignited signal lights in his haversack, setting his clothing on fire. He put out the flames and despite the burns to his body and wounds he led his men forward under intense machine gun fire and captured the ‘Black Dotted Line’. As they began to consolidate their achievement Second Lieutenant Hewitt was shot by a sniper. He was 19 years of age.
For his conspicuous gallantry he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. London Gazette 14th September 1917. “Denis George Wyldbore Hewitt, Second Lieutenant, late Hampshire Regiment. When his first objective had been captured he re-organised his company and moved towards his objective. While waiting for the barrage to lift he was hit by a piece of shell which exploded the signal lights in his haversack and set fire to his equipment and clothes. Having extinguished the flames in spite of his wound and the severe pain he was suffering, he led forward the remains of the company under very heavy machine-gun fire and captured and consolidated his objective. He was subsequently killed by a sniper while inspecting the consolidation and encouraging his men. This gallant officer set a magnificent example of coolness and contempt of danger to the whole battalion, and it was due to his splendid leading that the final objective of his battalion was gained.”
On the 19th December 1917, Second Lieutenant Denis Hewitt’s posthumous Victoria Cross was presented to his parents by King George V at an investiture held at Buckingham Palace. Their son’s body was not recovered and his name is inscribed on the Menin Gate. He is also commemorated in All Saints Church and on the War Memorial at Hursley; St George’s Church Langton Matravers; Winchester College; in the Chapel at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst; Hewitt Close, Gosport; in the County of Hampshire’s Book of Remembrance in Winchester Cathedral. His Victoria Cross is not publicly held.
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Lieutenant Colonel Neville Bowes Elliott-Cooper V.C., M.C., D.S.O. ~ 8th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers.
Neville Bowes Elliott-Cooper was born in London on the 22nd January 1889 the youngest son of Sir Robert Elliott-Cooper KCB and his wife Lady Elliott-Cooper. He was educated at Eton and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. On the 9th October 1908 he was commissioned into the Army joining the 3rd Battalion, Royal Fusiliers as a Second-Lieutenant and served in South Africa, Mauritius and India. On the 11th February, 1912 he was promoted to Lieutenant. When the First World War broke out there were four regular, three special reserve battalions of the Royal Fusiliers, plus four (City of London) battalions the London Regiment (Territorials). During the course of the war the Royal Fusiliers raised forty-five battalions. On the 11th January 1915 Neville Elliott-Cooper became a Temporary Captain and in September Temporary Major. As a regular officer he served on the Western Front and at the Hohenzollern Redoubt in March 1916 in command of ‘C’ Company of the 9th Battalion he was awarded the Military Cross for bravery in action – London Gazette 14th May, 1916. He also became a substantive Captain in May and a Temporary Lieutenant- Colonel on the 9th July, 1916. At Oppy Wood in May 1917 he again displayed gallant leadership taking command of the 8th and 9th Battalions, who had sustained heavy casualties. For this action he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (D.S.O.) – London Gazette 18th July 1917 – and Mentioned in Despatches.
The Cambrai offensive which began on the 20th November 1917 broke through into the German held territory and created a salient in the enemy’s lines approximately nine miles wide and four miles deep, which in the event of a German counter-offensive was not easy to defend. Failure to gain the whole of the Bourlon ridge increased the German threat whose counter-attack plan was to concentrate on the northern and southern sector fronts to break through the British line. On the 30th November the Germans launched their counter-attack. 20
The 36th Brigades, 8th and 9th Battalions of Royal Fusiliers were deployed in the southern sector of the battlefield. One company of the 9th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers occupied the south-western section of Pelican Trench which they held until the enemy penetrated through the line held by the Norfolks on their right. A counter-attack made possible a withdrawal to the south of the main Cambrai road, where a stubborn resistance of their trench was maintained during the day. Holding this position touch was kept with the 60th Brigade and some of the 35th Brigade in front of La Vacquerie. Another company of the 9th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers occupied a strong defensive position protecting Bleak House on the main road, held out all day despite being surrounded until the evening when the survivors were forced to surrender.
The 8th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers of the 36th Brigade were deployed in the north-eastern section of Pelican Trench when as the Official History relates: ‘The two forward companies were crushed by heavy attacks from the front and the right flank, while a third company coming forward over the Cambrai road to reinforce was caught by concentrated fire of light machine- guns. The commanding officer Lieutenant-Colonel N.B. Elliott-Cooper, called upon his headquarters personnel and the remaining company and led a counter-attack which drove the Germans back over the crest of the Bonavis Ridge, but hostile machine-gun fire checked this effort and the colonel fell, severely wounded after ordering a withdrawal. The counter-attack enabled the remnants of the battalion to rally in the reserve line south-east of La Vacquerie when strengthened by part of the reserve battalion, the 7th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment and eleven guns of the 36th Machine Gun Company, a position was established in a communication trench facing east. On the right, touch was established with the 9th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers in the Hindenburg support system’.
Lieutenant-Colonel Elliott-Cooper sustained serious wounds in the counter-attack and unable to regain the British line he was taken prisoner by the Germans. The 8th Battalion sustained 257 casualties and the 9th Battalion 221.
For his conspicuous gallantry Lieutenant-Colonel Elliott-Cooper was awarded the Victoria Cross. London Gazette 13th February, 1918: “Neville Bowes Elliott-Cooper, D.S.O., M.C., Captain (Acting Lieutenant-Colonel) 8th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers. For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty. Hearing that the enemy had broken through our outpost line, he rushed out of his dug-out and on seeing them advancing across the open, he mounted the parapet and dashed forward calling upon the Reserve Company and details of Battalion Headquarters to follow. Absolutely unarmed he made straight for the advancing enemy and under his direction our men forced them back 600 yards. While still some forty yards in front he was severely 21 wounded. Realizing that his men were greatly outnumbered and suffering heavy casualties, he signalled to them to withdraw, regardless of the fact that he himself must be taken prisoner. By his prompt and gallant leading he gained time for the reserves to move up and occupy the line of defence.”
On the 11th February, 1918 Lieutenant Colonel Neville Elliott-Cooper V.C., D.S.O., M.C., died of his wounds sustained at Cambrai whilst a prisoner of war in No.1 Reserve Prisoner of War Camp, Lazaret Hospital, Hanover, Germany. He was 29 years of age. Initially he was buried at Hanover and in 1923 he was transferred to Hamburg Cemetery, Ohlsdorf – Plot V, Row A, Grave No.16. The Hamburg Ohlsdorf Cemetery is the largest non-military cemetery in the world. Within it are three Commonwealth War Graves Cemeteries ~ First World War 1914- 1918; Second World War 1939-1945; & Post War.
On the 25th May 1918 Neville Elliott-Cooper’s parents received their sons Victoria Cross from King George V at a ceremony held at Buckingham Palace. The Victoria Cross Medal Group is now in the possession of the Royal Fusiliers Museum. Lieutenant-Colonel Elliott Cooper is commemorated on the War Memorial in St Mary’s Churchyard, Bentworth, Hampshire; the VC & GC Memorial Eton College; in the Chapel at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst; a memorial tablet in Ripon Cathedral.
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Lieutenant Colonel Oliver Cyril Spencer Watson V.C. ~ 1st County of London Yeomanry, Commanded 2nd/5th Battalion, King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.
Oliver Cyril Spencer Watson was born in London on the 7th September 1876, the youngest son of William Watson MB, FRCS, and his wife Georgina who died two years later. He was educated at St Paul’s School, London and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. On the 20th February, 1897 he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment. He served in India and was badly wounded in the Tirah Expedition of 1897-98. Promoted to Lieutenant on the 17th August 1898 he went to China in 1900 and appointed the 4th Brigade’s Transport Officer. Three years later, due to illness he was invalided home and on the 16th January 1904 was placed on the Reserve of Officers at the age of 28. In civilian life he became land agent to Sir Charles Henry Bt, MP at Parkwood in Surrey and Crazies Hill, Berkshire. He decided in September 1909 to maintain his links with the Army and was commissioned into the 1st County of London Yeomanry, becoming in 1911 a Lieutenant and two years later, Captain.
After the outbreak of the First World War he went Egypt and served in the Gallipoli campaign from April 1915 and appointed temporary Major in July. On his return to the United Kingdom he was attached to the 2nd/ 5th Battalion, King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI).
He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (D.S.O.) in May 1917 (London Gazette 26th July 1917) for his gallantry at Bullecourt. During an attack his commanding officer had been killed and assuming command he led the troops in another attack and in so doing was seriously wounded. In January 1918 he was promoted Acting Lieutenant-Colonel and although having recovered from his wounds he returned to France but was not fully fit. On the 27th March 1918, on the Third Army’s front to the north of the Somme, the Germans attacked during the early afternoon close to Rossignal Wood, at Bucquoy and later near Ablainzevelle in the 62nd Division’s sector. At Rossignal they were aided by an old trench 23 system, intense artillery fire, trench mortars, low flying aircraft that bombed the wood and forced the 2nd/4th Battalion KOYLI, 187th Brigade to withdraw. A number of the bombs dropped were dummies and further German progress was temporarily held up by machine-gun fire. The 4th Australian Brigade were ordered to impede the enemy’s advance on the right and the 187th Brigade to launch a counter-attack. Unfortunately the order was not received by the 187th Brigade. During the evening Brigadier General J.L.G. Burnett, 186th Brigade realized the 187th Brigade had not moved and requested the use of four tanks. He ordered forward the 2nd/5th Battalion KOYLI, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Watson, 187th Brigade, who were in support to the north of Rossignal Wood with two tanks on either flank. Unwilling to engage the tanks the Germans withdrew from the wood.
Unfortunately confusion led the 2nd/5th Battalion, KOYLI to return to their support line instead of occupying the wood. The tanks also withdrew though two were abandoned having broken down. The 187th Brigade were ordered to re-organise and re-establish their line but did not move forward again until the early hours of the 28th. This delay gave the enemy the opportunity to utilize the two broken down tanks as strongpoints and successfully held and defended these positions. They also made good use of the disused trench system and captured three companies of the 2nd/5th Battalion, KOYLI and one company of the 2nd/4th Battalion KOYLI.
During night of the 27th-28th the 2nd/5th Battalion, KOYLI prepared to counter-attack to recapture lost ground with the objective of gaining touch with the Australians. By daybreak of the 28th they were positioned in a road opposite Rossignal Wood. The enemy was observed approaching them under the protection of machine-gun fire using the old disused trenches which enabled them to get around behind the 2nd/5th Battalion, KOYLI. All the companies except ‘D’ were gradually being surrounded and Lieutenant-Colonel Watson, commanding both the 2nd/5th and 2nd/4th Battalions, KOYLI realized they would all become trapped and he ordered his troops to withdraw down communication trenches. He remained firing his revolver at the enemy as the companies withdrew and was killed. He was 41 years of age. For his conspicuous gallantry he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
London Gazette 8th May 1918: “Oliver Cyril Spencer Watson, D.S.O., (Reserve of Officers) Major (Acting Lieutenant-Colonel) late King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. For most conspicuous bravery, self-sacrificing devotion to duty and exceptional gallant leading during a critical period of operations. His command was at a point where continual attacks were made by the enemy in order to pierce the line, and an intricate system of old trenches in front, coupled with the fact that his position was under constant rifle and machine gun fire, rendered the 24 situation still more dangerous. A counter-attack had been made against the enemy position, which at first achieved its object, but as they were holding out in two improvised strong points, Lieutenant-Colonel Watson saw that immediate action was necessary and he led his remaining small reserve to the attack, organizing bombing parties and leading attacks under intense rifle and machine-gun fire. Outnumbered, he finally ordered his men to retire, remaining himself in a communication trench to cover the retirement, though he faced almost certain death by so doing. The assault he led was at a critical moment and without doubt saved the line. Both in the assault and in covering his men’s retirement he held his life as nothing and his splendid bravery inspired all troops in the vicinity to rise to the occasion and save a breech being made in a hardly tried and attenuated line. Lieutenant-Colonel Watson was killed while covering the withdrawal.”
His posthumous Victoria Cross was presented to his sister by the General Officer Commanding Home Forces. Lieutenant-Colonel Watson’s body was not recovered and his name is inscribed on the Arras Memorial. He is also commemorated on the Regimental Memorial in St Paul’s Cathedral, London; in St Mary’s Church and on the War Memorial at Wargrave, Berkshire; St Paul’s School War Memorial; in the Chapel at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst; Middlesborough War Memorial; at Freemason’s Hall, London. His Victoria Cross medal group is held by the Green Howards Museum, Richmond, Yorkshire.
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Lieutenant-Commander Geoffrey Heneage Drummond V.C. ~ Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
Geoffrey Heneage Drummond was born on the 25th January 1886 in London the son of Captain Algernon and Margaret Heneage. Geoffrey was the third of seven sons and two daughters born to their parents. [An elder brother Captain Spencer Heneage Drummond 7th Battalion, Rifle Brigade was killed on 30th July 1915 and is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial]. Geoffrey attended Evelyn’s Preparatory School, Uxbridge, and Eton College. At the age of nine he had an unfortunate accident when he fell down a flight of stone steps and dislocated his neck. Due to his injury he suffered from headaches throughout his life and it disrupted his education and curtailed his time spent at Eton. Leaving there he attended Clayesmore School, Iwerne Minster and later Christ Church Oxford. Instead of pursuing an academic education at university he chose a course in Estate Management at an Agricultural College in Kent and later was employed in the United Kingdom and Australia as a land agent. He was an enthusiastic yachtsman and enjoyed sailing, which prompted him in December 1915 to join the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve as a Temporary Sub-Lieutenant, after undergoing manipulative treatment on his neck. Early in the New Year of 1916 he joined HMS Resourceful at Southampton for his initial training which was followed by navigation and gunnery courses.
He was posted to Dover in September 1916 as second-in-command of a new Motor Launch but his orders were changed and he was sent to Scapa Flow where his duties included patrolling the approaches to the Pentland Firth. After three months he was hospitalized at the Chatham Royal Naval Hospital having been diagnosed with severe sciatica. Discharged and after a period of recuperation he was sent to Portsmouth to command a new motor launch. On the 24th December, 1916 he was promoted to Temporary Lieutenant and although initially based at Portsmouth, he and his motor launch crew operated for most of 1917 from Dover and then Dunkirk, where they were based from January 1918. 26
The attack to block the harbour at Zeebrugge on the 23rd April 1918 was relatively successful but the similar operation at Ostend was not. A second attack to block the harbour at Ostend on the 9th-10th May achieved similar results as that at Zeebrugge, though many lives were lost. The scheme was hurriedly organized and lacked some essential and specific details in the planning of such a seaborne operation. Sea mist and fog shrouded Ostend as the attacking force approached the harbour. Although marker buoys to the approaches of the harbour had been shifted HMS Vindictive entered the harbour under skillful navigation of her captain Commander A.E. Godsal. Followed by Motor Launch 254, commanded by Drummond, who had been promoted to Temporary Lieutenant-Commander on the 23rd April, they were subjected to intense enemy shell and machine-gun fire. A shell struck Motor Launch 254, killing one officer and seriously wounding three others including Drummond. HMS Vindictive was also subjected to an unrelenting bombardment and Commander Godsal was killed. Approaching the blocking position H.M.S. Vindictive grounded in the harbour and her crew was ordered to abandon ship. Lieutenant V.A.C. Crutchley had assumed command of HMS Vindictive and set the scuttling charges which were fired and the ship began to settle partially blocking a vital channel in the harbour. Lieutenant-Commander Drummond who had been wounded again brought his launch alongside HMS Vindictive and two officers and thirty-eight men scrambled aboard, many seriously wounded and dying. Satisfied no one else remained on board Drummond eased his launch away from the battle scarred wreck and headed out of the harbour aided by the cover of the fog. Rendezvousing with the destroyer HMS Warwick all the personnel, dead and wounded were taken onboard. Drummond himself had collapsed from exhaustion due to his wounds. The destroyer struck a mine and sea water began to enter some of her compartments. HMS Velox came to her rescue and was lashed alongside and both ships were then towed by HMS Whirlwind to Dover. For his conspicuous bravery Drummond was awarded the Victoria Cross. Lieutenant-Commander R. Bourke D.S.O., RNVR, and Lieutenant V.A.C. Crutchley D.S.C., RN, were also awarded the Victoria Cross for their bravery at Ostend.
London Gazette 28th August 1918: “Geoffrey Heneage Drummond, Lieutenant-Commander, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. Volunteered for rescue work in command of M.L. 254. Following Vindictive to Ostend, when off the pier a shell burst on board killing Lieutenant Gordon Ross and Deckhand J. Thomas, wounding the coxswain and also severely wounding Lieutenant Drummond in three places. Notwithstanding his wounds he remained on the bridge, navigating his vessel, which was seriously damaged by shell fire into Ostend harbour, placed her alongside Vindictive and took off two officers and thirty-eight men, some of whom were killed and many wounded while embarking. When informed that there was no one left alive onboard 27 he backed his vessel out clear of the piers before sinking, exhausted from his wounds. When HMS Warwick fell in with M.L. 254 off Ostend half an hour later the latter was in a sinking condition. It was due to the indomitable courage of this gallant officer that the majority of the crew of the Vindictive were rescued.”
Drummond was hospitalized at the Chatham Naval Hospital and then had a lengthy period of recuperation. In July 1918 he married Maude Bosanquet and they later had three children. He received his Victoria Cross from King George V on the 11th September 1918 at an investiture held at Buckingham Palace. When he was declared fit for duty he returned to Dover and commanded a Motor Launch, attached to minesweeper flotilla clearing mines from the English Channel. Later he was transferred to Queenstown, Ireland on similar duties and patrol work. Demobilised in 1919, he went into business with a friend but their enterprise was not a success. During the 1920’s he lived on his pension until 1928 when he went to Australia with his wife and two of his children. However, whatever plans he had they did not come into fruition and he returned to England. He then became employed with ICI at the Millbank Head Office until the outbreak of the Second World War.
He applied for re-enlistment with the RNVR but was considered to be too old and unfit. Determined not to be side-lined he joined the River Emergency Service on the River Thames and then transferred to the Royal Naval Patrol Service in 1940 as a 2nd Hand (Able Seaman). In April 1941, whilst carrying a sack of coal, his left leg collapsed – result of his First World War wounds – and he fell striking his head against the upper deck structure. Severely concussed he died on the 21st April in St Olave’s Hospital, Rotherhithe aged 55 years and was buried in Chalfont St Peter Cemetery, Buckinghamshire – Grave Location: Row J, Grave No.13. He is also commemorated on the Chalfont St Peter War Memorial; Eton College VC/GC Memorial; at Clayesmore School. His Victoria Cross medal group, are on display in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery at the Imperial War Museum.
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Air Commodore Ferdinand Maurice Felix West V.C., C.B.E., M.C. ~ Royal Air Force
Ferdinand Maurice Felix West was born in London on the 29th January 1896, the son of Lieutenant Francis West and his French wife Clémence formerly the Comtesse de la Garde de Saignes. His father was commissioned into the East Lancashire Regiment, but later resigned. He rejoined his regiment on the outbreak of the Boer War and was killed in action in 1902. His widow and her 6-year-old son left England for Italy and resided in Milan. Ferdinand was educated at a private school and at an Italian Grammar School. At the impressionable age of 14 he and a school friend witnessed the flight of Georges Chavez, who had achieved a record altitude height of nearly 8,000-ft in a Henry Farman and was attempting to fly over the Alps. He was successful but was practically frozen in doing so. On landing he crashed and died shortly afterwards. On leaving the grammar school Ferdinand spent a few weeks holiday in England and on return studied International Law at Genoa University in 1912. Having grown up on the continent he was fluent in Italian, French and English. After graduating two years later he was briefly employed in June 1914 at a Swiss bank. Unhappy working in the banking environment, Ferdinand took the opportunity, when Great Britain declared war on Germany in August 1914 to return to London.
Shortly after his arrival in the capital he enlisted into the Army and was sent to the RAMC Depot at Aldershot. His preference had been for an infantry unit and service on the Western Front. Over the succeeding months he applied for a commission and in the Spring of 1915 with the rank of Second Lieutenant he was transferred to the 4th Battalion, (SR) Royal Munster Fusiliers. He joined the battalion in France on the 8th November 1915 who were deployed in the Loos sector and were preparing to enter the frontline trenches. The realities of war and the appalling conditions of trench warfare in the First World War was a life changing revelation to him. In mid-September 1916 he became an Acting Captain. From the trenches he was able to look up into the sky and watch the aerial activity above him and triggered the memory of his childhood watching Georges Chavez fly over the Alps. He was very aware of the dangers that 29 pilots of the First World War faced every time they took to the air. However, the seed of becoming a pilot was sown.
An opportunity arose for him to apply for a transfer the Royal Flying Corps and in March 1917 he attended an Army artillery spotting course at Brooklands. The following month he was posted to 3 Squadron RFC who were based near Amiens as an Observer/Gunner flying in a Morane- Saulnier Type ‘P’ aircraft. On the 1st July 1917 he was promoted to Lieutenant and on the 26th Flying Officer (Observer). The squadron’s duties included patrolling and observation of the enemies ground activities and artillery spotting. On one of the many patrols Ferdinand undertook as an observer his pilot was wounded after they were attacked by an enemy machine. Despite the damage to the aircraft the pilot was able to land the aircraft safely.
Ferdinand had applied to become a pilot himself and subsequently approved, he returned to the United Kingdom and was sent to Grantham for training. He flew his first solo flight on the 15th November 1917 and in early December became a Flying Officer. Returning to France he joined 8 Squadron at Amiens. The squadron was equipped with Armstrong Whitworth FK 8 two-seater aircraft employed on patrolling, reconnaissance and photographic duties. On the 21st March 1918, accompanied by his Observer/Gunner Lieutenant John Haslam they flew on operations on the opening day of the German Spring Offensive. Having completed a successful bombing operation two days later their aircraft was seriously damaged by gunfire as they crossed over the enemy front line. With skillful control Ferdinand managed to land the aircraft close to the Allied frontline trenches. For their bravery and determination, both pilot and observer were awarded the Military Cross – (London Gazette 26th July 1918). On another offensive patrol Ferdinand and his observer were tasked to bomb enemy communications near Mericourt. During the flight they were attacked by two enemy aircraft. Manoeuvring the aircraft Ferdinand outwitted the enemy pilots and successfully accomplished their mission. On his return to their aerodrome he was informed that he had been promoted to Acting Captain and given command of the flight.
8 Squadron on the 1st July 1918 was attached to the Tank Corps with special orders to liaise with each other and to co-ordinate their offensive duties. Flying an Armstrong Whitworth FK 8 with Lieutenant Haslam they were tasked to help a group of tanks attacking towards Roye. The cloudy and foggy weather condition made observation difficult. In order to observe enemy movements Ferdinand descended and flying low observed a number of enemy vehicles and troops who subjected their aircraft to intense ground fire. Lieutenant Haslam returned fire with their machine-gun. Ferdinand was aware that the information they had gathered was important and Headquarters should be made aware of it as quickly as possible. Ascending above the 30 battlefield and into the cloud, they were attacked by two enemy machines firing machine gun bursts at them. Their aircraft was damaged and Ferdinand was seriously wounded in his left leg. Two more enemy aircraft joined their companions and immediately opened fire. Barley conscious Ferdinand managed to apply a tourniquet to his leg with the ripped material from his trousers to try and stem the blood flow as well as trying to control the aircraft. Haslam firing bursts at the enemy machines managed to fend them off as Ferdinand headed towards Allied lines. Successfully managing to land the aircraft they were greeted by Canadian soldiers who came to their aid. Ferdinand insisted that the vital intelligence information they had gathered was immediately communicated to HQ before they removed him from the aircraft. Given an assurance this would be done he was lifted out of the aircraft. It was apparent that he had lost a lot of blood and the left leg was practically severed. He was taken to a hospital at Rouen where the leg was amputated. From Rouen he was transferred to the London Hospital at Whitechapel and on the 8th November 1918 he was informed that he had been awarded the Victoria Cross.
London Gazette, 8th November 1918: “Ferdinand Maurice Felix West Lieutenant (Acting Captain) Royal Air Force (formerly of the Special Reserve, Royal Munster Fusiliers). Captain West while engaging hostile troops at a low altitude far over the enemy lines, was attacked by seven aircraft. Early in the engagement one of his legs was partially severed by an explosive bullet and fell powerless into the controls, rendering the machine for the time unmanageable. Lifting his disabled leg he regained control of the machine and although wounded in the other leg, he with surpassing bravery and devotion to duty, manoeuvred his machine so skillfully that his observer was enabled to get several good bursts into the enemy machines, which drove them away. Captain West then, with rare courage and determination, desperately wounded as he was brought his machine over our lines and landed safely. Exhausted by his exertion he fainted, but on regaining consciousness insisted on writing his report.”
Having been fitted with a wooden leg he was discharged from hospital and given a compensation payment of £250 for the loss of a leg. Later he was able to exchange the wooden leg for a Desoutter limb. On the 1st March 1919 he received his Victoria Cross and Military Cross from King George V at an investiture held at Buckingham Palace.
As a civilian Ferdinand decided to pursue a career in International Law which had been interrupted by the outbreak of war in 1914. He also consulted the Swiss firm of Desoutter to replace his wooden leg with a specialised limb enabling more freedom of movement and perhaps the opportunity of rejoining the Royal Air Force. With the help of Hugh Trenchard he gained a temporary commission and was sent to the Foreign Office in April 1919 as a Royal Air 31
Force Liason Officer with the rank of Lieutenant. Four months later he was granted a permanent commission. On the 19th January 1921 he married Wynne Leslie at Westminster Cathedral.
In February 1921 he was posted to RAF Uxbridge and was able to resume flying. He attended the RAF Staff College and from there joined 17 Squadron at Hawkinge in 1924. Various other RAF appointments followed both at home and abroad. In 1939 he became a temporary Group Captain commanding No.50 Co-operation Wing at Odiham in Hampshire. They were sent to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force and stationed at Arras and Amiens. In December Ferdinand returned to the United Kingdom and was sent to Aldershot Military Hospital with a burst ulcer. On the 1st January 1940 he became a Group Captain and was appointed Air Attaché in Rome with the rank of temporary Air Commodore. After Italy declared war he went to the British legation in Berne, Switzerland and by the summer of 1945 he was the Director of Foreign Liason, Air Ministry.
He retired in March 1946 with the rank of Air Commodore and was employed by the film distributor J. Arthur Rank and later became a Managing Director. He was an active supporter of the RAF Association and served on the committee of the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association. On the 7th July, 1988 at the age of 92 Air Commodore Ferdinand West, died at the Princess Margaret Hospital, Windsor. He was the last of the First World War air VC’s and was buried on the 20th July at Holy Trinity Church, Sunningdale, Berkshire in a grave plot with his mother. He is commemorated on the RAF Roll of Honour in St Clement Danes Church, London; a portrait by Henry Campbell in the RAF Museum, Hendon. His Victoria Cross, Decorations, medals were donated to the Imperial War Museum and are on display in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery.
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Field Marshal John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker – Lord Gort V.C. ~ 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards
John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker was born in London on the 10th July 1886 the son of the 5th Viscount Gort and his wife Eleanor. As the elder son he became the 6th Viscount Gort on the death of his father in 1902. The family home was on the Isle of Wight where they owned a large estate at East Cowes. John was educated at Harrow and at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. On leaving there he was commissioned on the 16th August 1905 as a Second Lieutenant in the Grenadier Guards and two years later became a Lieutenant. He commanded the Grenadier Guards Bearer Party at the funeral of King Edward VII in 1910 and was later appointed a Member of the Victoria Order (MVO). At the Guards Chapel London, in February 1911 he married his cousin Corinna Katherine Vereker, and subsequently had two children, a son and a daughter.
In September 1913 he was appointed ADC to the General Officer Commanding the London District, a post he held until the 4th August 1914. On the outbreak of the First World War, having been promoted to Captain he became ADC to Major-General C.C. Munro, GOC 2nd Division and on the latter’s promotion to GOC 1 Corps in December 1914, Captain Gort accompanied him to France. Two months later he joined the Staff as GSO3 and in March appointed Brigade Major of the 4th Guards Brigade, 2nd Division and retained that position when the 4th Guards Brigade was retitled 1st Guards Brigade in August 1915 when the Guards Division was formed. Viscount Gort participated in the Battle of Festubert in May 1915 and was awarded the Military Cross – London Gazette 23rd June 1915. He also fought in Battle of Loos in the autumn of 1915. In June 1916 received the Brevet of Major and was appointed GSO2 (Operations) at GHQ on the 1st July.
As an Acting Lieutenant-Colonel he was given the command of the 4th Battalion, Grenadier Guards in the Spring of 1917. On the 4th June his name appeared in the Sovereign’s Birthday 33
Honours List having been awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). At the end of July 1917 he was seriously wounded during the Battle of Pilkem Ridge and for his gallantry there received a Bar to his DSO – London Gazette 26th September 1917. He was again wounded during the Battle of Cambrai at Gonnelieu and hospitalized. After recovery and recuperation he became the Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards and in August 1918 was Temporary Commander of the 1st Guards Brigade and a month later Temporary Commander of the 3rd Guards Brigade before rejoining the 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards.
Between the 12th September and 12th October 1918, a series of Battles for the Hindenburg line were fought, one of which was the Battle of the Canal du Nord, on the 27th September. The Third Army commanded by General The Hon. Sir Julian Byng was composed of IV Corps, V Corps, VI Corps and XVII Corps. VI Corps, commanded by Lieutenant-General Aylmer Haldane comprised the Guards Division, 2nd Division, 3rd Division and the 62nd Division. VI Corps was to capture the Flesquieres ridge and its spur running northward to Graincourt and Anneux and gain the Hindenburg Support which crossed the line of advance and was partly on the reverse slope of the Flesquieres ridge.
The first objective was fifteen hundred yards distant from the start line and included the northern part of the Hindenburg Support; the second was the capture of Flesquieres and the central section of the Hindenburg Support; the third objective was Ribecourt, the southern part of the Hindenburg Support, Marcoing – on the Schelde Canal – and the Cantaing Line. The Guards and 3rd Division were detailed to take the first and second objectives and continue on staying within the protection of the creeping barrage, if not strongly opposed. But if they encountered determined enemy resistance they were to pause until artillery support had been moved forward. In the Guards Division the 2nd Guards Brigade on the left of VI Corps, aided by a machine gun barrage were to capture the first objective; the 1st Guards Brigade the second objective and 3rd Guards Brigade the third objective.
At zero hour 0520 hours, the 2nd Guards Brigade moved forward with all three of its battalions. The 3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards successfully captured their allotted section of the Hindenburg Line from north to south. Attacking from an eastward direction were the 1st Battalion, Scots Guards and the 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards. The latter battalion on the left were hindered by wire entanglements in the dry bed of the canal and subjected to intense machine gun fire from an enemy position built within the collapsed structure of a bridge on the Dernicourt-Grainscourt road. The machine gun post was rushed and for their conspicuous gallantry Captain C.H. Frisby and Lance-Corporal T.N. Jackson were awarded the Victoria 34
Cross – the latter posthumously. This delay in the advance resulted in the loss of the protecting barrage. The troops of XVII Corps on the left had not reached the Guards line and the flank of the 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards was subjected to heavy enemy fire and they had to halt their advance approximately two hundred yards short of the Hindenburg Support. It was not until mid-afternoon that the supporting troops of the XVII arrived and the enemy chose surrender rather than to resist. The 1st Battalion, Scots Guards on the right of the 2nd Guards Brigade crossed the dry bed of the Canal du Nord and overcame the enemy’s position and captured the Hindenburg Support having reached the first objective by 0700 hours.
The 1st Battalion, Irish Guards of the 1st Guards Brigade followed on the right of the 2nd Guards Brigade, although sustaining casualties passed through the 1st Battalion, Scots Guards and arrived at the first objective shortly after 0700 hours. Significant enemy resistance emanated from the northern outskirts of Flesquieres and from a sugar factory, ahead of the second objective on higher ground to the north-east of the village. By late morning the 3rd Division had captured Flesquieres and the 1st Battalion, Irish Guards reached the line of the village but not the sugar factory several hundred yards beyond. On the left the 2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards, reinforced by the 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Guards had encountered stiff resistance from the village of Graincourt, which had not been captured by XVII Corps and were not able to gain the second objective until late afternoon after Graincourt had been captured by the 57th Division. In the meantime, the 2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards created a defensive flank facing north and the line of the Guards Division ran at an angle close to Flesquieres north-westward.
During the early afternoon three tanks arrived and advanced towards the sugar factory. Although they were put out of action their appearance distracted the enemy’s attention and a platoon of the 1st Grenadier Guards, 3rd Guards Brigade were able to traverse a sunken road and attack the Germans around the sugar factory causing the enemy troops to surrender and enabled the 1st Guards Brigade to occupy the whole of the second objective.
It was part of the plan that the 3rd Guards Brigade would pass through the second objective at 0950 hours but they had been forced to wait. Command the Brigade had devolved upon Acting Lieutenant-Colonel Viscount Gort who saw an opportunity on the surrender of the sugar factory to order the 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards to advance followed by the 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards guarding the open left flank. The former, some of whom formed a defensive flank arrived at a trench one mile ahead and about a quarter-of-a-mile from Premey Chapel situated on a small hill, east of Flesquieres Ridge and gained touch with the left of the 62nd Division. They were however, forced to withdraw by a counter-attack to a trench three-quarters-of-a-mile to the 35 east of the sugar factory running towards Orival Wood. It was to this wood that the Grenadier Guards withdrew. During the day of intensive fighting at the crossing of the Canal du Nord Acting Lieutenant-Colonel Viscount Gort was wounded on two occasions as the Guards advanced. For his conspicuous gallantry, leadership and devotion to duty he was awarded the Victoria Cross.
London Gazette 27th November 1918: “Captain and Brevet Major (Acting Lieutenant-Colonel) John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker, Viscount Gort, D.S.O., M.V.O., M.C., 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards. For most conspicuous bravery, skillful leading and devotion to duty during the attack of the Guards Division on 27th September 1918, across the Canal du Nord near Flesquieres, when in command of the 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards the leading battalion of the 3rd Guards Brigade. Under heavy artillery and machine-gun fire he led his battalion with great skill and determination to the ‘forming-up’ ground where very severe fire from artillery and machine guns was again encountered. Although wounded, he quickly grasped the situation, directed a platoon to proceed down a sunken road to make a flanking attack and under terrific fire, went across open ground to obtain the assistance of a Tank, which he personally led and directed to the best possible advantage. While thus fearlessly exposing himself he was again severely wounded by a shell. Notwithstanding considerable loss of blood, after lying on a stretcher for a while, he insisted on getting up and personally directing the further attack. By his magnificent example of devotion to duty and utter disregard of personal safety all ranks were inspired to exert themselves to the utmost and the attack resulted in the capture of over 200, two batteries of field guns and numerous machine guns. Lieutenant-Colonel Viscount Gort then proceeded to organize the defence of the captured position until he collapsed even then he refused to leave the field until he had seen the “success signal” go up on the objective. The successful advance of the battalion was mainly due to the valour, devotion and leader-ship of this very gallant officer.”
At an investiture held at Buckingham Palace on the 13th December, 1918 he received his Victoria Cross from King George V. The ability and prowess of Lord Gort as a fighting soldier is beyond question as he was Mentioned in Despatches on eight occasions during the First World War. He also was awarded second Bar to his DSO for his courage and bravery in the closing weeks of the war – London Gazette 11th January 1919. After the war he was appointed GSO Headquarters London District as a Temporary Lieutenant-Colonel, having become a substantive Major and attended the first post war staff course at Camberley. Promoted to Colonel in January 1925, the same year in which he divorced his wife. After holding senior home appointments he became the Commanding Officer of the Grenadier Guards in December 36
1929. In 1934 the East Cowes Estate was sold. Viscount Gort served in China and India and became a Major General in 1935 and Commandant of the Staff College, Camberley a year later. He was appointed in September 1937 Military Secretary to the Secretary State of War and on promotion to General, Chief of the Imperial General Staff in December. On the outbreak of the Second World War he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force and in May 1940 ordered the British forces to withdraw to Dunkirk in the face of the superior German forces. On his return to London he explained his reasons for the fateful decision to the CIGS and Secretary of War. However, Gort’s decision was viewed as a defeat for Britain and he was made a scapegoat. As a result his Army career suffered a set-back.
However, he was given further appointments as Inspector General of the Home Guard, ADC to King George VI, Governor and C-in-C at Gibraltar 1914-1942 and Malta 1942-1944. He presented the George Cross in the Spring of 1942 to the people of Malta. In the 1943 New Year’s Honour’s List he was made a Field Marshal and was badly burnt in an air raid on Malta during the same month. During 1944-1945 he was High Commissioner and C-in-C Palestine and High Commissioner for Transjordan. With the pressure and heavy responsibilities brought about the Second World War, Viscount Gort’s health began to deteriorate and he had to retire. He returned to the United Kingdom seriously ill and during his stay in hospital the King conferred upon him a new title as Viscount Gort of Hamsterly in the County of Durham. On the 31st March 1946, Field Marshal Lord Gort VC, GCB, CBE, DSO & 2 Bars, MVO, MC, died in Guy’s Hospital, London aged 59 years. He was buried on the 5th April in Church of St John the Baptist, Penshurst, Kent.
Penshurst Palace, home of his son-in-law Major W.P. Sidney (later Viscount De L’Isle) was awarded the Victoria Cross for his conspicuous gallantry at Anzio in February 1944. Field Marshal Viscount Gort’s heir the Honourable C.S. Vereker, 2nd Lieutenant, Grenadier Guards died after an accident in 1941 and the title passed to Lord Gort’s brother. Field Marshal Lord Gort VC, is commemorated in St Pauls Cathedral, London; King’s Chapel, Gibraltar; the Guards Chapel; Oil Paintings in the Guards and Cavalry Club and in White’s Club; the Garrison Church, Portsea; a Blue Plaque in Belgrave Square, London.
On the 27th September 2018, the Lord-Lieutenant of the Isle of Wight unveiled a Centenary Memorial Paving Stone on Cowes Parade in the presence of local dignitaries, family members including the current Viscount De L’Isle, MBE, Lord Lieutenant of Kent, members of the Royal British Legion and members of the public. The Memorial Paving Stone in the Victoria Embankment Gardens was unveiled a week later in the presence of the Lord Mayor, Viscount 37
De L’Isle, Officers and men of the Grenadier Guards and musicians from the Irish Guards. The memorial stone was the 468th to be laid in the four years scheme to honour Victoria Cross recipients who served in the First World War.
Field Marshal Lord Gort’s Victoria Cross, Decorations and Medals are not publicly held.
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Victoria Cross Paving Stones Commemorating Twelve First World War Recipients Of The Award In the Victoria Embankment Gardens Whitehall Extension London
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Photographs © Roger Coleman
Roger Coleman