“VALIANT MEN OF BEDFORDSHIRE”
COMMEMORATING THOSE AWARDED THE VICTORIA CROSS & ALBERT MEDAL IN THE GREAT WAR FROM BEDFORDSHIRE
THE VICTORIA CROSS
The Victoria Cross was introduced as the premier award for gallantry, available for all ranks, to cover actions since the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1854; it was allegedly created on the suggestion of Prince Albert, the Prince Consort. The Naval version originally had a navy blue ribbon which continued during the Great War. Of the 1354 awards since 1856, 832 have gone to the Army, 107 to the Navy, 31 to the RAF, 10 to the Royal Marines and 4 to civilians. Second bars have been awarded three times. The facility for posthumous awards, made retrospective to 1856, began in 1902 and was confirmed in 1907, while the early practice of forfeitures (eight between 1863 and 1908) was discontinued after the First World War. Each VC is still made by the same London jewellers, Messrs Hancocks (now of Burlington Gardens, London, W1) from the bronze of Chinese cannons captured from the Russians at the siege of Sebastopol (large ingots of which are stored at the Army's Central Ordnance Depot at Donnington). There is a requirement for the award to be approved that at least three witnesses must make sworn written statements as to the exact circumstances of the action involved. This means many equally brave acts are not rewarded.
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THE ALBERT MEDAL The Albert Medal (AM) was introduced on 7 March 1866, and was named after Queen Victoria's husband and consort Price Albert who died on 14 December 1861 at Windsor. A royal warrant issued in 1867 created two classes of AM: 1st and 2nd class. Ten years later, in 1877, the warrant wass altered to allow the saving of life on land to be recognised by the award of the Albert Medal. In 1917 the title was altered producing the Albert Medal in gold (formerly the AM 1st Class) and the Albert Medal (formerly the 2nd class bronze medal). In 1949 9 the Albert Medal in Gold was replaced by the George Cross. The Albert Medal, now only issued in bronze, was only awarded posthumously. In 1971, the Albert Medal was ceased and all living recipients were invited to exchange their Albert Medals for the Geo George rge Cross.
During the Great War 1914 - 1918 fifteen men associated with Bedfordshire were awarded the Victoria Cross. Two men are also included in this book who won the equivalent Albert Medal This book is written as a tribute to them. It is distributed free so that recent generations may remember them and those who fought alongside them.
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PREFACE This book is published in the Centenary year of the outbreak of the Great War 1914 – 1918. It is intended as a tribute to all those who endured the horrors o off that war and to honour the memory of those awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces forces.. Included are two recipient recipients of the Albert Medal known through Bedford School to have an association with Bedfordshire. Unfortunately the Albert Medal and the other precursors of what is now the George Cross have not received the same publicity as the equivalent Military award of the Victoria Cross and the he antecedents of the recipients are difficult to find. Thus the ese two cases stand for all those awarded these medals for for:- fire fighting, mine rescue, saving life at sea, dealing with unexploded mines and police work etc.. Five men serving in the Bedfordshire Regiment have already featured in the sister volume “The Valiant Men of Hertfordshire” available from the same source. They are therefore shown separately in the contents but to see their profiles one needs to go to the other er volume. The eight men represented here, who were awarded the VC, are associated with Bedfordshire as encompassed by the county boundaries of that time. Not only included are those born in Bedfordshire but those living there, attending a Bedfordshire school hool or who served in the County’s Regiment. Of these eight recipients two lost their lives in the conflict. Of those returning home more than one had physical and mental scars. Some had difficulty finding work and were traumatized by their experiences. SSadly adly it is a problem that can still affect those who put their lives on the line. So this book concentrates on the events where they displayed extreme courage rather than the aftermath. AT THE END OF THEIR LIFE THEY SAY OF FIGHTING MEN: THAT OLD SOLDIER SOLDIERSS NEVER DIE THEY JUST FADE AWAY AND THE ROYAL MARINES ARE SAID TO CROSS THE HARBOUR BAR. THEY ONLY DIE IF THEY ARE FORGOTTEN. SO PLEASE READ THEIR STORIES THAT THEY MAY REMEMBERED AND SO LIVE ON IN PEOPLE’S MEMORIES. Compiled by Ted Sparrow
July 2014
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CONTENTS ADLAM, Thomas Edwin VC
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Second Lieutenant in the Bedfordshire Regiment
BUCKINGHAM, William Henry VC
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He was born William Billington, at 57, St John's Street, Bedford
FOSS, Charles Calveley V.C., C.B., D.S.O.
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Charles Foss served in the 2nd Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment
HEDGES, Frederick William VC
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Second Lieutenant in the Bedfordshire Regiment
HENDERSON, Edward Elers Delaval VC
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Henderson was educated at Dunstable Grammar School.
HOSKYN, Charles Reginald OBE AM
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He attended Bedford School
MOORE, Montague Shadworth VC
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He attended Bedford School.
NEEDHAM, Samuel VC
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Private, Service No: 203329, Bedfordshire Regiment 1st/5th Battalion
NEWALL, Cyril Louis Norton GCB, OM, GCMG, CBE, AM Marshal of the RAF The Lord Newall of Clifton upon Dunsmoor
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He attended Bedford School
TISDALL, Arthur Walderne St. Clair VC
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Lived at 32 Kimbolton Road, Bedford
WHEELER, George Campbell VC.
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He attended Bedford School
WHEELER, George (Godfrey) Massy VC
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Memorial at Bedford Modern School
THE PROFILES OF THE FOLLOWING ARE GIVEN IN “The Valiant Men of Hertfordshire” COLLINGS-WELLS, WELLS, John Stanhope VC Enlistment nlistment in the Hertfordshire Militia
BURT, Alfred Alexander V.C Resident of Port Vale
COX, Christopher Augustus VC Born and lived in Kings Langley
WARNER, Edward VC He was born in St Albans in Hertfordshire
YOUNG, Frank Edward VC He was born in Cherat in the North West Province, India. Served in the Hertfordshire TA
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ADLAM, Thomas Edwin VC Tom Edwin Adlam was born at Waterloo Gardens in Salisbury, on the 21st October 1893, the son of John and Evangeline Adlam. Following his education at Bishop Wordsworth's School, Salisbury, he was training to be a teacher and joined the Territorial Force in September 1912. When war broke out in August 1914, Tom Adlam was embodied for service and had worked his way up to Sergeant when commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Bedfordshire Regiment in November 1915. He joined the regiment at Sittingbourne, Kent, and was soon moved to and trained as Bombing Officer as he had the unusual tlent of being able to throw Mills bombs '40 yards' with both arms, which he put down to years spent playing cricket. The 7th battalion served with distinction on the Western Front and had suffered heavy losses since the opening day of the battle of the Somme on the 1st July 1916. They had been in the front assaulting waves on that notorious day, which saw them storm and hold the German positions on the southern edges of the battlefield. Not only had they been one of the few British battalions to successfully get into the German trenches, but they had taken the front three lines of enemy trenches as well as the heavily fortified and stubborn Pommiers Redoubt that bristled with machine guns. Two weeks later they were again mauled during the assault on the deadly Trones Wood, after which battle a further draft of reinforcements saw the new Second Lieutenant Tom Adlam join them in the field on the 18th July 1916. He was posted to C Company and, other than two weeks in August spent in the front lines opposite Lille, spent the period leading up to the storming of Thiepval and the Schwaben Redoubt in reserve positions. Here the battalion initially rested after their ordeal on the Somme, then started training for their involvement in the Somme battles that September. Tom joined what he called a 'very happy platoon' and remarked how he was never bitten by a bug during his time on the Western Front, although his impression of it all was that it could be 'bloody awful at times'. His mother died while he was on the front that summer but as the burial and service would have been finished by the time he returned to England, he chose to remain with his “The Valiant Men of Bedfordshire�
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platoon. This innocuous decision would ensure he was with the battalion while they stormed Thiepval and the Schwaben Redoubt, otherwise he would not have been with them during the action that saw him win the Victoria Cross. In what would go down in the Regimental annuls as one of the finest military feats of the battalion's impressive involvements in the war, the 54th Brigade were 'wound up' to take on the defensive positions around Thiepval with the 7th battalion assigned to assault the 'impregnable' and formidable defensive work called the Schwaben Redoubt once the village itself had fallen. Thiepval stood on a high ridge that dominated the surrounding countryside. The fortified village itself sat in the middle and on either shoulder of the ridge the defenders had built redoubts to repel any attempts to overrun the ridge. These redoubts were complex tangles of barbed wire, trenches, reinforced machine gun posts and dugouts in which the defenders could shelter from shelling. The Ulstermen of the 36th Division, despite the bravest of attempts, had failed to hold it on the 1st July when they were assigned the unenviable task of assaulting it and had almost been wiped out in the process. Early in September the relatively inexperienced Territorial troops of the 49th (West Yorkshire) Division had also failed to take it but the shoulders of the ridge had finally been captured. After almost three months of horrific battles and casualty levels, the now highly experienced 54th Brigade were moved up overnight to make yet another attempt at taking the carefully crafted positions high on the Thiepval Ridge CITATION [ London Gazette, 25 November 1916 ], Thiepval and Swaben Redoubt, France, 27 - 28 September 1916, Second Lieutenant 7th Bn, Bedfordshire Regiment. "For most conspicuous bravery. A portion of a village which had defied capture had to be taken at all costs, to permit subsequent operations to develop. This minor operation came under very heavy machine-gun and rifle fire. Second Lieutenant Adlam, realising that time was all-important, rushed from shell-hole to shell-hole under heavy fire, collecting men for a sudden rush, and for this purpose also collected many enemy grenades. At this stage he was wounded in the leg, but nevertheless he was able to out-throw the enemy, and then seizing his opportunity, and in spite of his wound, he led a rush, captured the position and killed the occupants. Throughout the day he continued to lead his men in bombing attacks. On the following day he again displayed courage of the highest order, and, though again wounded and unable to throw bombs, he continued to lead his men. His magnificant example of valour, coupled with the skilful handling of the situation, produced far-reaching results." POST WW1 Following the end of World War I, Tom Adlam became headmaster of the village school in Blackmoor, Hampshire, where he and his wife Ivy raised their four children. Called into service again during World War II, he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1944.
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MEDALS
Victoria Cross: British War Medal - (1914-20): Victory Medal - (1914-19): 19): Defence Medal - (1939-45): War Medal - (1939-45): 45): King George VI Coronation Medal 1937: Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal 1953: Medaglia Al Valore Militare ( Silver ) ( Italy ) COMMEMORATION Tom Adlam died, aged 81, on the 28th May 1975, during a family holiday on Hayling Island, Hampshire. He is buried in St Matthew's Churchyard, Blackmoor, near Liss, Hampshire.
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BUCKINGHAM, William Henry VC EARLY LIFE William Buckingham was born William Billington, at 57, St John's Street, Bedford, on 29.3.1886. Both parents were natives of Bedfordshire: his father, William John Billington, was born at Flitwick in 1869 and his mother, Annie, was born in Bedford in the Spring of 1867, and they were married at the Parish Church of St Cuthbert, Mill Street, Bedford, on 1.2.1886. A second son, Frederick Ernest Billington, was born on 7.5.1887. Their father died tragically at New Spring Road, Kempston, of pulmonary tuberculosis age 19. The boy's mother had difficulties in bringing the boys up and by May 1889 the family was living in Howbury Street, Bedford, and was receiving outdoor relief from the local Board of Guardians. William Billington was admitted to the Bedford Union Workhouse on 17th May 1889 (aged 3 years) as his mother was no longer able to care for him. He was shown as being at the Workhouse in the 1891 census. His brother Frederick was living with his maternal grandparents. Their mother, Annie, moved to Leicester at this time, settled, and married Thomas Henry Buckingham, aged 18 years, possibly met whilst working in a factory. They had a son, Joseph Henry Buckingham, on 19.11.1891. Problems arose at bringing up this son, who was admitted to the Leicester Union Workhouse on 21.4.1892. Both William and Frederick were transferred to Leicester where the boys adopted their stepfather's name, returned to the workhouse and subsequently were transferred to Countesthorpe Cottage Homes. William became a boy soldier and his brother Frederick joined the Navy.
Number nine of the eleven Cottage Homes at Countesthorpe plus a visit to the homes by its most famous old boy, Pte Buckingham VC. Photos courtesy of the Record Office for Leicestershire,
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MILITARY CAREER Buckingham joined the 2nd Battalion of The Leicestershire Regiment in 1901, at the age of 15, and served in Egypt and India. 2nd Battalion in August 1914 was in Ranikhet as one of the battalions comprising the Gharwal Brigade, Meerut Division of the Indian Army. On the12th October 1914 the Division landed at Marseilles for service in France, Was a member of the “Old Contemptibles”. The first action was the defence of Festubert, 23-24 November 1914 by the Indian Corps (Willcocks): Meerut Division The defence of Givenchy, 20-21 December 1914 the Indian Corps makes an attack Events did not go as planned the enemy actually attacked their French neighbours, disrupting plans. Elsewhere, a series of six disconnected and small-scale assaults took place. Where men entered the enemy lines - and they were few as the rest were held on the thick enemy wire - they were out-ranged by German hand grenades (the British had few, homemade and quite useless grenades). The 7th and 8th Divisions quickly lost another 51 officers and 1024 men, having achieved next to nothing. The Meerut and Lahore Divisions of the Indian Corps had already suffered some 6,000 casualties since arriving in Flanders a few weeks previously. Most of these had been lost in the defence south of Ypres, but more recently they had suffered in fruitless attacks in November and as recently as 16 December. They were exhausted, reeling from the debilitating effects of trench warfare in the flooded ditches of Flanders. The men lacked suitable winter clothing, and missed their accustomed special rations. On 18 December, the Meerut held the left sector of the Corps line, from La Bombe crossroads near Neuve Chapelle, to Picquet House near La Quinque Rue at Festubert. Extending to the right, the Lahore held the line to Givenchy, with one battalion, the 1st Connaught Rangers, on the opposite bank of the La Bassée Canal. The Corps attacked at 3.10am on the cold, windy, rainy early morning of 19 December 1914. The attack gains a toehold in the enemy front line The 2nd Leicesters of Gharwal Brigade, supported by the 2/3rd Gurkhas, attacked at 3.15am, and despite having to cross a field of machine gun fire managed to capture a length of 300 yards of the enemy front line near Festubert. They held on through the dawn against numerous bombing attacks delivered along the network of communication trenches. By 10.00am, the enemy was seen massing for a counter-attack near the Orchard, which was being mortared. The most advanced men were withdrawn to a line to the rear of the Orchard. A little way south, the 1st Highland Light Infantry and 1/4th Gurkha Rifles of the newly-arrived Sirhind Brigade and 59th Scinde Rifles of Jullundur Brigade attacked in front of Givenchy. They also got into 200 yards of the lightly-held enemy front line, but casualties were heavy as the enemy counter-attacked again and again, and men crossing no man's land in support were scythed down by machine gun fire.
Casualties incurred Indian Corps British
Killed or missing
Wounded
Officers 144
Men 915
Officers 148
Men 1246
Indian
70
2590
96
4370
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NEUVE CHAPELLE In the Spring of 1915 the British Expeditionary Force in France came under political pressure to do something to expel the Germans from France, and the village of Neuve Chapelle was selected as the objective for this the first major British offensive of the war. At Neuve Chapelle the British managed mainly through good luck to achieve surprise and local superiority, so that the first day of the battle, 10 March 1915 was one of considerable success. Over the following days however German resistance hardened and the hoped for breakthrough was not achieved. One of the units chosen to spearhead the assault was the Indian Corps with its mixture of Gurkha, Garwahli and British troops. Among its battalions was the 2nd Leicestershire Regiment. Along with their Indian comrades the Leicesters attacked the German position known as Port Arthur, near La Bombe crossroads. Three infantry brigades were ordered to advance quickly as soon as the barrage lifted from the front line at 8.05am. The Gharwal Brigade of the Indian Corps advanced successfully, with the exception of the 1/39th Gharwal Rifles on the extreme right that went astray and plunged into defences untouched by the bombardment, suffering large losses. The 25th and 23rd Brigades of the 8th Division made good progress against the village. There were delays in sending further orders and reinforcements forward, but by nightfall the village had been captured, and the advanced units were in places as far forward as the Layes brook. During the night the Germans reinforced their second line in front of the Bois de Biez, and all further attempts over the next few days brought little material success CITATION (London Gazette, 28 April1915). 'for conspicuous acts of bravery and devotion to duty in rescuing and rendering aid to the wounded whilst exposed to heavy fire, especially at Neuve Chapelle, on 10th and 12th of March 1915' INTERLUDE He was promoted to Lance Corporal and was based at The Depot at Glen Parva Barracks, and employed with recruiting in the county. He then gave up his stripes and returned to France, joining 1st Battalion where he became orderly to Captain JWE Mosse (OC A Company, and whose father was CO of the Depot). William Buckingham VC pictured on a contemporary postcard. The red white and black ribbon around his cap indicates he is with a recruiting party The Battle of Flers-Courcelette, 15 - 22 September 1916 A renewal of the offensive finally broke through the area that had proved to be so difficult since 14 July. using a small number of tanks for the first time in history, the British Army finally captured High Wood and pressed on through Flers and up the Bapaume road to Courcelette. 1st Leicesters moved into the attack position during the night of 14 September and were ready to engage the enemy by 4.30 am on the 15th. Zero Hour for the infantry “The Valiant Men of Bedfordshire�
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attack was fixed for 6.20 am with the Battalion and the 9th (Ser (Service) Battalion of the t Norfolk Regiment facing the north-east east along a line of trenches due south from Ginchy. The attack commenced on time and the battalion encountered heavy machine machine-gun gun fire from the 9th Bavarian Regiment to whom they were directly oppose opposed. d. Casualties were extremely heavy and amongst those killed in action that day William Buckingham VC of A Company. Typically, he fell as he advanced to the aid of wounded comrades. He had just cleared a parapet when he was hit in the thigh and head by machine-gun gun fire and was killed instantly. He was 30 years old. MEDALS The VC was presented to him by HM King George V at Buckingham Palace on 4th June 1915. His medal and some personal effects are displayed in the Regimental Museum.
Victoria Cross 1914 Star: British War Medal: British Victory Medal. COMMEMORATED 1916. His body was never recovered, and his name is among He died aged 28 on the 5th September 1916 the 843 men of the Regiment commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial on the Somme
In 1961 during its development and expansion the village of Countesthorpe honoured one of its bravest former sons by naming a road after him. Later, in 1986 after adding his name to the village War Memorial in the churchyard of Saint Andrew’s. TThe he Parish Council further honoured his memory by erecting a bronze memorial plaque on a granite plinth in Buckingham Road.
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FOSS, Charles Calveley V.C., C.B., D.S.O. Charles was born 8th March 1885 in Kobe, Japan, the eldest son of the Right Reverend Hugh James Foss, Bishop of Osaka. He attended Marlborough College in Wiltshire (1899 (1899-1902). 1902). He enrolled into the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in 1902 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Bedfordshire Regiment in 1904.
WORLD WAR 1 Charles Foss was serving in the 2nd Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment in South Africa when the war broke out and the battalion made it to the Western Front in time for the First Battle of Ypres. He was one of only four Officers to survive the battle during which he won his D.S.O Having miraculously survived the battle that saw many British battalions reduced to mere cadres he worked steadily through the first winter in the trenches until the opposing armies started their respective campaigning seasons again the following spring. February 1915 saw Captain Foss mentioned in Sir John French's despatches for gallantry in the field and his D.S.O. followed the same month. The 2nd battalion spent the period until early March in the trenches around Fleurbaix before moving into reserve to o train in readiness for the coming operations around Neuve Chapelle. Other British and Indian troops were to make the first attacking waves up on the 10th March 1915, with the Bedfords' Brigade moving through them to carry the lines further forwards. This in mind, at 10.30am they moved forward with their objective laying in a south south-easterly easterly direction, on the northern edge of Neuve Chapelle, headed in the direction of Pietre. After advancing through the German barrage across open fields and passing the heavy casualties suffered by the first waves, they had cleared the old German front lines by 4.30pm. Their orders took them to support positions next to the Royal Scots Fusiliers and they settled into the new lines in an open field for the night, having llost ost around 60 Officers and men to the shelling that day.
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The following day was spent in the same position, manning a salient jutting into the German lines, with the British troops hugging the ground waiting for firm orders which were delayed due to a supporting Brigade not being able to make it into the allotted positions. The Bedfords simply dug in tight and watched an attack from the Northampton's halted by intense shell and rifle fire just to their right. A further thirty Officers and men fell on the 11th but no more attempts to advance were made that included them. Overnight the two front line companies dug a new trench at right angles to their existing ones, which were being heavily enfiladed from their open southern flank, resulting in one company facing east, the other south. That night also saw a company of the Scots Fusiliers brought into the line on their right, opposite the 'High Trees', but they were rushed early in the early morning mist and driven from the trench, leaving the Bedfords cruelly exposed. At about 7am Major Denne (second in command) was organising a counter attack to regain the lost trench when he was wounded and had to be removed from the line completely, dying as a result some two years later. Captains Cumberledge and Baird took charge and led A Company in the attack, which was disastrous. Every last Officer and man was hit, many of them falling as they left the trenches and the regimental history remarks that those who made it into no man's land lay in a straight line where they fell as a German machine gun took them in enfilade. Only a handful of Bedfords actually made it into the German trenches, being Captain Baird (wounded), Sgt 9238 Woods (wounded), Pte 7072 Wareham (wounded), Pte 9446 Coxall (wounded), Pte 9957 Day (killed), Pte 8006 Hodson (wounded), Pte 6684 Richards (killed). Half an hour later word reached battalion HQ of the doomed assault, just as the Scots to their right started suffering badly from British shell fire. The situation was falling into confusion as the Brigadier ordered the trench to be retaken, so Major Onslow (in command) ordered the Adjutant to go forward and find out what the situation was. Captain Foss was his Adjutant but it seems that he was not satisfied with events and took control himself. Having considered the situation he suggested one of the newly raised bombing sections should attempt the assault but neglected to add that he intended to lead them himself. In his own words, he "was rather afraid that he [the C.O.] might not countenance his Adjutant going for “The Valiant Men of Bedfordshire�
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a 'jolly' on his own, so I did not hint that I thought of joining the bombers". Having taken one such section of Bombers from D Company, he led them from the front in a line through the trenches, intending to flank attack the German held line and placed himself at the front as the leading bayonet man. Having moved through the 'veritable shambles' that the British trenches had become, overflowing with wounded and dying men as they were, Foss approached the end of the British territory and was faced with open ground between them and the German lines with flooded dykes running across their line of attack. As he describes in his own words: "We then launched our attack. The words sound grand; but we felt very 'naked' and 'above ground' in the open field - at least I did. The dyke caused me some amusement - none of the bombers were inclined to get their feet wet and I thoroughly sympathised with them - wet puttees are so cold. So they 'covered' me while I ran and leapt, then I 'covered' them while they ran and leapt. What's more, we all cleared the dyke. This safely negotiated, we threw a few bombs ‌ The bombs, the first I had seen go off in anger, frightened me with their noise and the mess they made of the local German. They also stirred the Germans into activity. They got up and crowded round us with their hands up. The bombers thoroughly enjoyed themselves, waving the bombs in their faces, making grimaces and ordering them to hold their hands higher. I had to shout to warn the bombers not to throw any more as they would blow us all up." The tiny band of eight overzealous bombers and a single worried Officer overcame one German Officer and forty eight men in addition to those who were killed during their bombing assault. A Company moved in to take over and the salient was saved. Sir John French, the C in C of the British Army, heaped praise on the battalion for their actions at Neuve Chapelle, and visited them in person on 10th April whilst they were resting in Reserve. A copy of his speech was printed in the local newspapers and several decorations were handed out to the battalion for their part in the battle. Captain Foss himself was awarded the V.C. for his part in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle on the March 12, 1915. During the Battle of Festubert in May 1915 Foss once again led a team of bombers who played a vital, stubborn part in the battalion's fortunes but was moved back from the lines on the 22nd May ill. A week later he returned as the battalion's Adjutant and remained there until August, when he was appointed as a Brigade Major in the 20th Infantry Brigade. CITATION His citation for the Victoria Cross reads: "For most conspicuous bravery . . . After the enemy had captured a part of one of our trenches, and our counter-attack made with one officer and twenty men having failed (all but two of the party being killed or wounded in the attempt), Capt. Foss, on his own initiative, dashed forward with eight men, and under heavy fire attacked the enemy with bombs, and captured the position, including the fifty-two Germans occupying it. The capture of this position from the enemy was of the greatest importance, and the utmost bravery was displayed in essaying the task with so very few men."
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MEDALS Foss’ V.C. was presented to him by the King in person on the 25th November 1915 in the field, although his then former battalion were in the line at the time, so could not be present. His medals are held by the Bedfordshire Regimental Museum in Luton.
VC: CB: DSO Star and Bar: 1914 (Mons) Star: British War Medal: British Victory Medal: Defence Medal (1939-1945): War Medal (1939-1945): King George V Silver Jubilee Medal: King George VI Coronation Medal: Order of Danilo (4th Class) {Montenegro} plus 5 Mentions in Despatches POST WAR His leadership skills had been well proven so for the rest of his Army career Charles served in General Staff positions. In August 1915 he became a Brigade Major and by the end of 1918 he was an Honorary Lt-Colonel. By the end of 1919 Charles Foss was a Brevet Lt-Colonel, who ran the Small Arms School and he even went on to serve as an aide-de-camp to King George VI. WORLD WAR 2 During World War II he was Brigadier of the Bedfordshire Home Guard and ran the County's Cadet School. Having devoted his life to a decorated and celebrated Army career that spanned both World Wars, he passed away on the 8th April 1963, in hospital in London, aged 68. He is buried in West Hill Cemetery, Winchester, England.
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His grave in the West Hill Cemetery, Winchester
There was a ceremony at Marlborough College, W Wiltshire, on Saturday, 8th October 2005, to unveil a plaque to its winners of 13 VCs, one George Cross and one Albert Medal in Gold. Gold The plaque is in the western vestibule to the Memorial Hall
The Memorial Hall is the College's principal memorial to the 749 men who gave their lives in World War I. It was opened by H.R.H. The Duke of Conna Connaught on May 23rd, 1925.
.
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HEDGES, Frederick William VC Frederick Hedges was born on the 6th June 1896 at Umballa in India, the seventh of nine children... His father was Henry George Hedges who was 'born at Sea, Bengal Bay' around 1857 and his mother was Mrs Harriet Eliza (nee Loader) Hedges, born in India around 1865. Henry has served as a Bandsman in the 12th Royal Lancers at Bangalore, later serving as the bandmaster in the 18th Hussars. In 1901 the family were living at 24 Landsdowne Road, Hounslow, Middlesex. Henry was a superintendent (assurance) and Freddie was the seventh of nine children. He was later educated at Grove Road Boy's School, and Isleworth County School. WORLD WAR 1 Freddie enlisted into the Queen Victoria's Rifles on the 6th August 1914 at Davies Street in London. He was posted as Rifleman 2182, to the 1st/9th (City of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Queen Victoria's Rifles) on 8th August 1914 and left for France with the battalion in the 5th November 1914. After involvement in the First Battle of Ypres in 1914, Freddie was admitted to hospital in France with frostbite on 28th January 1915 and evacuated to England on 29th January 1915. Having recovered, he was transferred to B Company, 3rd/9th Battalion London Regiment (Queen Victoria's Rifles) on 15th April 1915. The 6th July 1915 saw him commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Bedfordshire Regiment and he went to the Felixstowe School of Instruction on the 10th July, before joining the 9th Reserve battalion as a Musketry Officer. After a year training recruits in musketry, on the 2nd September 1916 he left for France again, joining the recently arrived 6th battalion.
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Whilst serving in the 6th battalion, Freddie was engaged in the Battle of the Ancre between the 13th and 15th November 1916 and the Battle of Arras in April 1917. On the night of the 10th April 1917, he was wounded in the right hand by shrapnel whilst the battalion dug in astride the Le Bergere crossroads, a few yards south of Monchy le Preux in the snow. He was evacuated to Rouen, thence to England aboard the St. George on the 19th April and was admitted to No.5 General Hospital in Portsmouth. The 12th October 1917 saw him returned to light duties with the 3rd Reserve battalion as a machine gun instructor and his promotion to Lieutenant came through from the 1st July 1917. Freddie returned for a third tour on the western Front, arriving on the 25th September 1918. As his battalion had been disbanded that summer, he was attached to the 6th Northampton's, where his service on the front lines would end. He served in the final battles of the war, specifically at the Battles of Epehy on the 29th September, the Selle on the 23rd and 24th October and finally at Sambre on the 4th November 1918. During the Battle of the Selle in October, Lieutenant Hedges won the Victoria Cross for capturing six German machine guns and fourteen prisoners in Bousies Wood, north-east of Le Cateau on the 24th October. The book 'V.C.'s of the First World War' reads: "To the north-east of Le Cateau on 24th October 1918, Captain F.W. Hedges of the Bedfordshire Regiment, attached to the 6th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment (54th Brigade, 18th Division), gained a V.C. when his battalion was attacking north-east of Bousies. They were ordered to advance as far as the hamlet of Hecq, on the south-western edge of Mormal Forest. The advance began at 4 a.m. with A and B Companies advancing 500 yards over wooded country, which was very difficult terrain. C and D Companies then passed through their lines. C Company, under Captain Hedges, reached Hecq at about 6 a.m., only to find it very strongly held by the enemy, who immediately launched a counter-attack. The Lewis-guns dealt with this attack, but when the company emerged from the edge of the wood they found their way barred by two German machine guns. At about 2 p.m., on hearing that the line on his left was intending to make a determined advance, Hedges decided to move also. With the help of Sgt. Gibson, he managed to capture the machine guns and some prisoners". The 18th Divisional History adds of the episode: "Hedges' company was on the right of the 54th Brigade front. It was held up by six machine gun posts on a hill opposite. Hedges made up his mind to clear these posts. Armed with a revolver and carrying a cane*, which he waved when he wanted his men to dash forward, Hedges crawled up the hill under cover of a hedge. A sergeant [13974 Sgt. Fred Gibson] was with him. A Lewis-gun section followed some distance behind. Breaking cover, Hedges killed the first machine-gunner. Then he worked his way along the crest of the hill and dealt with three more machine gun posts, taking the feed-blocks out of the guns and securing altogether fourteen prisoners. The Lewis gun section came up to help. All the six Boche machine gun posts were captured, and as suddenly as it became clear that the three companies of the 6th Northamptonshires that had been checked near Bousies Wood Farm, had by now worked round the enemy from the north, the German resistance collapsed. The 2nd Bedfordshires and the 55th Brigade swept forward to seize Renuart Farm, and by 6 p.m. two companies of the Queens and East Surreys - cyclist patrols were used on this occasion - had got as far as the church in Robersart. As the Germans retired the French inhabitants braved the shelling and came out of their cellars to “The Valiant Men of Bedfordshire�
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welcome our men. There were smiles and excited shouts, and hot cakes and potatoes for the Queens and East Surreys that night." In what would be the final battle of the war for his battalion, Captain Hedges was, ironically, wounded again. During the fighting at Mormal Forest on the 4th November 1918, Freddie was wounded in the right side of the scalp - "a three and a half inch crack in the skull" according to Sergeant Gibson - and a "through and through" bullet in his right shoulder. He was evacuated back to England, arriving at Southampton on the 8th November and heard the war had ended from a hospital bed in England. CITATION "For most conspicuous bravery and initiative during the operations north-east of Bousies on the 24th October, 1918. “He led his company with great skill towards the final objective, maintaining direction under the most difficult conditions. When the advance was held up by machine-gun posts, accompanied by one Serjeant and followed at some considerable distance by a Lewis-gun section, he again advanced and displayed the greatest determination, capturing six machine guns and 14 prisoners. His gallantry and initiative enabled the whole line to advance, and tended largely to the success of subsequent operations” MEDALS Captain Hedges was awarded the Victoria Cross by the King at Buckingham Palace on the 15th May 1919
Victoria Cross: 1914 Star - clasp "5th Aug-22nd Nov 1914": British War Medal (1914-20): Victory Medal (1914-19): King George VI Coronation Medal (1937): Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal (1953) COMPLETION OF MILITARY SERVICE He was appointed the Commandant of No.8 POW Camp on the 19th June Captain Hedges, V.C. relinquished his commission on completion of service on 14th April 1920, and retained the rank of Lieutenant
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.On On the 26th July 1919 Freddie married Mollie Lorna Kenworthy and they had one son, John Grosvenor Hedges born in 1924. POST WAR post war life is available on the “The The Bedfordshire Regiment in the A detailed account of his pos Great War” website. COMMEMORATION Hedges suffered from depression after the death of his son in a drowning accident and committed suicide on the anniversary of his death
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HENDERSON, Edward Elers Delaval VC
Edward Elers Delaval Henderson VC He was born on the2 October 1878 at Shimla, British India. Henderson was educated at Dunstable Grammar School. He was 38 years old when he earnt his VC and an acting lieutenant colonel in The North Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's), British Army, attached to The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, commanding 9th Battalion during the First World War. For the second half of 1916 the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force was to spend time on building up a force strong enough to resume the offensive towards Baghdad and to drive the Turkish Army out of the country. The beginning of the British offensive took place on the 25th January 1917 at the Hai salient to the south-west of Kut, which was to become the Second Battle of Kut-el-Amara. Two battalions, the 9th Worcesters and the 7th North Staffordshires, got within 50 yards of the enemy front, protected by artillery fire, and after the bombardment lifted they entered the enemy lines. Although the 7th North Staffordshires suffered heavy casualties, they still managed to carry out their objectives. However, the Turks made a series of counter-attacks and were supported by shrapnel fire, trench motars and bombs, which forced the Staffordshires back on to the Worcestershire battalion. It was at this point that the 9th Warwickshires were brought up from brigade reserve to make a counter-attack of their own. Colonel Edward Henderson personally led the leading troops through the retiring troops across 500 yards of open ground in order to recapture the objectives lost by the North Staffordshires.
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CITATION onel) Edward Elers Delaval Henderson, late North Staffordshire Staff Major (acting Lieutenant.-Colonel Regiment:- “For For most conspicuous bravery, leadership and personal example when in command of his battalion. Lt.-Col. Col. Henderson brought his battalion up to our two front front-line line trenches, which were under intense fire, and his battalion had suffered heavy casualties when the enemy made a heavy countercounter attack, and succeeded in penetrating our line in several places, the situation becoming critical. Although shot through the arm, Lt. Lt.-Col. Col. Henderson jumped on to the parapet and advanced alone some distance in front of his battalion, cheering them on under the most intense fire over 500 yards of open ground. Again wounded, he nevertheless continued to lead his men on in the most gallant, manner, finally capturing the position by a bayonet charge. He was again twice wounded, and died when he was eventually brought in in” MEDALS Medal entitlement of Lieuten Lieutenant Colonel Edward Henderson, North Staffordshire Regiment
Victoria Cross:: Africa General Service Medal ((1902-56)- 3 clasps: "N Nigeria" - "N Nigeria 1902" - "N Nigeria 1903": 1914-15 Star:: British War Medal (1914 (1914-20): Victory Medal ( 1914--19 ) + MiD Oakleaf COMMEMORATED Lying out wounded in the open Colonel Henderson was rescued by his adjutant Lieutenant Robert Phillips, who was to earn the Victoria Cross on the same day. It came as no surprise that Henderson died shortly afterwards from his wounds and was buried at Amara War Cemetery, 150 miles south of Baghdad. In 1933 the headstones in the cemetery had to be removed because of salts in the soil which caused them to deteriorate and all the names of the men buried there were engraved on the wall of the cemetery.
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The cemetery at Al Amara, built for those on the M Mesopotamian esopotamian Expeditionary Force. During the 2003 invasion of Iraq to depose Saddam Husein it was found that a number of Military Cemeteries had been vandalised or fallen into disrepair. However, this sitehad had been protected from vandals by its Iraqi keeper, Hassan Hatif Moson, a 40 40-year-old old father of seven,who had received death threats from Baath officials. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission had secured an agreement with the Baathist Governme Government whereby they could arrange for gardners ers to tend some of the cemeteries.
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HOSKYN, Charles Reginald OBE AM MD Charles Reginald Hoskyn was born in 1882 in Pakistan and was educated at Bedford School. His father was Major Charles Reginald Hoskyn in the Royal Engineers. The 1901 Census shows him living in Bedford but by 1911 he has relocated to Rugby. He studied medicine at Bart's and graduated M.B., B.S. in 1909. He was house-surgeon to Sir Holbert Waring and in 1912 proceeded to the London M.D. He entered general practice in Rugby in 1910. In 1911 he was appointed assistant surgeon to the Hospital of St. Cross, which he served until 1946 except for a break in the R.A.M.C. during the first world war WORLD WAR 1 He joined the Royal Army Medical Corps and served in France. 18th August 1916 Temporary Lieutenant C. R. Hoskyn to be a temporary. Captain { The London Gazette Publication date:15 September 1916Issue:29753Page:9094} 24 November 1916: Captain Charles Hoskyn, 29th Casualty Clearing Station, RAMC. Gezaincourt. In a railway accident, a trapped man's foot was being burned off in the debris. Hoskyn had started to amputate the other foot but managed to loosen the man's body so that he was freed. For this action he was ultimately awarded the Albert Medal. 19th August 1917 He relinquished his commission {The London Gazette Publication date:5 October 1917 Issue:30326Page:10370} CITATION
The London Gazette Publication date:1 January 1918Issue:30453Page:143
“The KING has been graciously pleased to award the Decoration of the Albert Medal to the under mentioned Officers .and Non-Commissioned Officers and a Private of His Majesty's Forces serving in France or elsewhere in recognition of their gallantry in saving life: — Captain Charles Reginald Hoskyn, Royal Army Medical Corps.In France on the 24th November, 1916, as a result of a serious railway accident, a man was pinned down by the legs under some heavy girders. The wreckage was on fire and the flames had already reached the man's ankle. Captain Hoskyn crawled into a cavity in the flaming wreckage and after releasing one of the man's legs, amputated the other, whereupon the man was drawn out alive, Captain Hoskyn retaining hold of the -main artery until a tourniquet could be put on.” POST WAR “The Valiant Men of Bedfordshire”
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In 1941 The KING has been graciously pleased to sanction his promotion to the Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem: — as a serving brother {The London Gazette Publication date:27 June 1941Issue:35203Page:3674
After the war he rreturned eturned to Rugby and continued in general practice, but spent probably half his time at the hospital, at first doing general surgery but later concentrating on orthopaedic surgery. His general practice was really a group including surgeon, physician, ophthalmologist, almologist, E.N.T. specialist, obstetrician, and pathologist. Although these were sometimes not in step, they gave a wonderful service to the town and at the hospital. Dr. Hoskyn was awarded the O.B.E. in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 1964, but what prob probably ably gave him greater pleasure still was being given the freedom of Rugby for his outstanding work as their doctor and humanitarian. His only son, Dr. C. H. Hoskyn, died in, the prime of life at the age of 48 in 1960. He had one daughter. COMMEMORATION Dr. C. R. Hoskyn died on 3 March in the Hospital of St. Cross, Rugby. He was 84 years of age
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MOORE, Montague Shadworth VC The 1901 Census shows him as a 4 year old and born 9 October 1896 Worthing, West Sussex. The 1911 Census has him as a 15 year old still in West Sussex under Steyning. He attended Bedford School. In his letters home he describes his experience as follows:-.” On the night of 20th / 21st August 1917 the Germans bombed his small party but were driven off. In the morning the British put down a barrage on his position believing everyone had been killed. Later that morning Moore realised there was no sense in staying where he was and retreated to his own lines, to the astonishment of the General and his own Commanding Officer who had given him up as dead long ago. On the 21st September the Germans failed to get through so the whole German advance was held up, mainly because the Germans knew Moore and his men were there but uncertain as to his strength and were not prepared to take the risk for a full scale attack. According to the Divisional General this saved the whole Division. If the Germans had advanced the British barrage would have just missed them and the whole line would have been lost. “ CITATION For the award of the Victoria Cross:-[ London Gazette, 8 November 1917 ], East of Ypres, Belgium, 20 August 1917, Second Lieutenant Montague Shadworth Seymour Moore, 15th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment. “For most conspicuous bravery in operations ( near Tower Hamlets, East of Ypres, Belgium ) necessitating a fresh attack on a final objective which had not been captured. 2nd Lieutenant Moore at once volunteered for this duty and dashed forward at the head of some 70 men. They were met with heavy machine gun fire from a flank which caused severe casualties, with the result that he arrived at his objective – some 500 yards on – with only a Serjeant and four men. Nothing daunted, he at once bombed a large dug-out and took twenty-eight prisoners, two machine guns and a light field gun. Gradually more officers and men arrived, to the number of about 60. His position was entirely isolated as the troops on the right had not advanced, but he dug a trench and repelled bombing attacks throughout the night.
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The next morning he was forced to retire a short distance. When opportunity offered he at once reoccupied his position, rearmed his men with enemy rifles and bombs, most of theirs being smashed, and beat off more than one counter-attack. 2nd Lieutenant Moore held this post under continual shell fire for thirty-six hours until his force was reduced to ten men, out of six officers and 130 men who had started the operation. He eventually got away his wounded, and withdrew under cover of a thick mist. As an example of dashing gallantry and cool determination this young officer’s exploit would be difficult to surpass” RUSSIAN INTERVENTION 1919 Following the end of the First World War Montague Moore's fighting was not over. In May 1919 he was serving with the 2nd Battalion, Hampshire Regiment, part of the 238th Special Brigade of the North Russia Relief Force, despatched to Archangel ostensibly to assist the withdrawal of Allied troops threatened by Bolsheviks. POST WAR In March 1921 Montague Moore was posted to the 2nd Battalion, King's African Rifles, in Tanganyka Territory, formerly German East Africa. The posting proved a turning-point in his life. He retired from the Army in 1926 and joined the Tanganyika game department eventually becoming the country's chief game warden. MEDALS Montague Moore was invested with his Victoria Cross by King George V at Buckingham Palace on the 21st November 1917. Medal entitlement of Major Montague Moore VC, 15th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment
Victoria Cross: British War Medal (1914-20): Victory Medal (1914-19) + MiD Oakleaf: King George VI Coronation Medal (1937): Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal (1953): Croix de Guerre ( France ) COMMEMORATION Moore died on 12th September 1966 at Kugenzo, Kenya, and his ashes scattered in the Nairobi National Park.
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Livestock grazing in Langata Crematorium, Nairobi, Kenya There is also a memorial in Bedford School Library.
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NEEDHAM, Samuel VC Private, Service No: 203329: Bedfordshire Regiment 1st/5th Battalion. Samuel Needham was born in Great Limber, Lincolnshire on the 16th August 1885, to Septimus and Mary Needham. His father was one of Lord Yarborough’s grooms and Sam was to follow in his father’s footsteps. When he left the Brockesby Stables, he worked in several other hunting stables, including the Duke of Westminster’s and the Earl of Fitzwilliam’s. When war broke out in August 1914, Sam’s parents had both passed away and he was living with his married sister (Mrs Baron) at 6 Astley Street in Hull. His interest in and experience with horses led him to enlist on the 14th December 1914 initially as Private RTS/5023 in the Army Service Corps and he went to France on the 13th January 1915. He served there for 20 months. Having been wounded and recovered in England, he was posted to the 1st/5th Bedfords in Palestine in June 1917/. The battalion was assigned to the 162nd Brigade of the 54th (East Midlands Division) and was involved in the Palestine Campaign involving1917 The First Battle of Gaza (26-27 March): The Second Battle of Gaza (17-19 April): The Third Battle of Gaza (27 October -7 November) including the Capture of Gaza (1-7 November): The Battle of Jaffa (21-22 December) 1918 The fight at Ras el’Ain (12 March, 162nd Brigade only): The operations at Berukin (910 April): The battle of Sharon (19-23 September, part of the Battles of Megiddo). On 24 September the Division concentrated at Hable and began an advance to Haifa three days later. This move was completed on 4 October. The division was ordered to Beirut on 20 October; this move began three days later and the brigades moved on successive days via Acre, Ras es Naqura, Tyre and Sidon. The units concentrated at Beirut between 31 October and 5 November, but the Turks signed an Armistice on 31 October.
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The Division moved to El Qantara, back in Egypt, from 28 November. Samuel survived all the war could throw at him but died within a week of its ending. According to a privately printed pamphlet detailing the life of Samuel, died on 4th November 1918 from a gunshot wound to his head received whilst at No. 1 Base Depot in Kantara. CITATION An extract from The London Gazette, No. 30982, dated 29th Oct 1918, records the following: “For most conspicuous bravery and initiative when with a strong patrol which was heavily attacked by the enemy and forced back in confusion. At this critical moment Private Needham ran back and fired rapidly at a body of the enemy at point-blank range. His action checked the enemy and enabled the patrol commander to reorganise his men. The patrol had many casualties, but successfully got back all their wounded, and it was due to the action of individuals, of which this is the most outstanding, that the entire patrol was not cut off. Private Needham’s example was of the greatest value at a critical moment, and the bold and determined stand made by him did more than anything to inspire confidence, and undoubtedly saved a critical situation.” DESCRIPTION OF EVENT 'At one stage of operations on the Bureid Ridge, one of Captain Yarde's patrols suddenly bumped into a very much stronger Turkish patrol and, when our men were getting demoralised by our casualties, Private S Needham, who was a miner from Hull, saved the situation and won the Victoria Cross. He charged the enemy single handed and, fighting like one possessed, accounted for many Turks. His berserk fury created such a diversion in the darkness and confusion that, for the moment, the enemy was checked and they gave way before him. His comrades were unanimous in thinking that Private Needham's action enabled them to get away; otherwise they would have all been surrounded and cut off. Had this happened the valuable information that Captain Yarde brought back would not have been available for further operations. It should be noted that Captain Yarde himself won a bar to his MC on this occasion.' REFERENCE 15 MEDALS
Victoria Cross: 1914 - 15 Star: British War Medal (1914-20): Victory Medal (1914-19) COMMEMORATION
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Kantara War Memorial Cemetery is situated at Kantara East on the eastern side of the Suez Canal Grave Reference E. 181.
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NEWALL, Cyril Louis Norton GCB, OM, GCMG, CBE, AM Marshal of the RAF The Lord Newall of Clifton upon Dunsmoor He was born 15TH February 1886 son of Lieutenant-Colonel William Potter Newall and Edith Gwendoline Caroline Newall (née Norton). After education at Bedford School, Newall studied at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, before taking a commission as a junior officer in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in 1905. After transferring to the 2nd Gurkha Rifles in the Indian Army, he saw active service on the North West Frontier, but after learning to fly in 1911 (RAeC Certificate No 144 on 3 October) he was selected to set up a military flying school in India., but still being in Britain on the outbreak of WW1 he was absorbed into the RFC.. During the First World War he rose from flying instructor to command of No. 41 Wing, the main strategic bombing force, and was awarded the Albert Medal for putting out a fire in an explosives store. CITATION The award of the Albert Medal (1st Class) (London Gazette - 19 May 1916): -
"Major Cyril Louis Norton Newall, 2nd Gurkha Rifles (attached to the Royal Flying Corps). Albert Medal of the Second Class plus Corporal Henry Hearne, Royal Flying Corps. 1st Class Air Mechanic Harrie Stephen Harwood, Royal Flying Corps. 2nd Class Air Mechanic Alfred Edward Simms, Royal Flying Corps. On the 3rd January,1916,at about 3 p.m., a fire broke out inside, a large bomb store belonging to the Royal Flying Corps, which contained nearly 2,000 high explosive bombs, some of which had very large charges, and a number of incendiary bombs which were burning freely. Major Newall at once took all necessary precautions, and then, assisted by Air Mechanic Simms, poured water into the shed through a hole made by the flames. He sent for the key of the store, and with Corporal Hearne, Harwood and Simms entered the building and succeeded in putting out the flames. The wooden cases containing the bombs were burnt, and some of them were charred to a cinder." POST WAR On 28 January 1936 he was one of three officers representing the Air Council at the funeral of HM King George V “The Valiant Men of Bedfordshire”
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He served in staff positions through the 1920s and was Air Officer Commanding the Middle East Command in the early 1930s before becoming Air Member for Supply and Organisation in 1935. Newall was appointed Chief of the Air Staff in 1937 and, in that role, supported sharp increases in aircraft production, increasing expenditure on the new, heavily armed, Hurricane and Spitfire fighters, essential to re-equip Fighter Command. WORLD WAR 2 As Chief of Air Staff, he was responsible for requesting Dowding to delay his retirement at the critical point of the start of the Battle of Britain and was also responsible for persuading the Cabinet not to accede to a request from Churchill, then in Paris, for a further six squadrons to be sent to France. Instead he got agreement for the squadrons to be operated from bases in Britain over France HONOURS & CAREER Baron - 13 Jun 1946 (Conferred 19 Jul 1946), GCB - 9 Jun 1938 (KCB - 4 Jun 1935, CB - 3 Jun 1929), OM - 1 Nov 1940, GCMG - 4 Feb 1941 (CMG - 1 Jan 1919), CBE - 3 Jun 1919, KStJ - 3 Jan 1941, AM (1st) - 19 May 1916, MiD - 15 Jun 1916, MiD - 11 Dec 1917, MiD - 1 Jan 1919, LoH, O - 10 Oct 1918, Cwn Off - 8 Nov 1918, Leo, (O) - 15 Apr 1921, CdeG (B) - 15 Apr 1921. (Army): - 2 Lt: 16 Aug 1905, Capt: 16 Nov 1907, (T) Capt (RFC): 12 Sep 1914, (T) Maj: 24 Mar 1915, (T) Lt Col: 1 Feb 1916, (T) Brig-Gen: 28 Dec 1917. (RAF): - (T) Brig-Gen [Lt Col]: 1 Apr 1918, Act Brig-Gen: xx xxx 1919 - 30 Apr 1919, Wg Cdr: 1 Aug 1919 [1 Apr 1918], Gp Capt: 8 Aug 1919, A/Cdre: 1 Jan 1925, AVM: 1 Jan 1930, AM: 1 Jul 1935, ACM: 1 Apr 1937, MRAF: 4 Oct 1940.
He married May Weddell and secondly Olive Foster and had a son Francis and two daughters. He died on 30 November 1963.
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St Mary Magdalene's Churchyard Tormarton, Gloucestershire Memorial Inscriptions – Cyril Louis NORTON, 1st Baron Newall GCB, OM, GCMG, CBE, AM 15 February 1886 - 30 November 1963 Marshall of the Royal Air Force, Chief of Staff 1937 - 1945 Governor-General of New Zealand, Architect of Victory And of his devoted wife Oliva, 19 July 1891 - 29 November 1988
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TISDALL, Arthur Walderne St. Clair VC He was born 21 July 1890. The 1911 Census shows Arthur with his parents and 4 siblings (including John Theodore, who subsequently died) and 1 servant. They were living at 32 Kimbolton Road, Bedford, Bedfordshire. His father was a Clergyman (established church) Missionary C.M.S and his mother is shown having had 9 children, of which 1 had died The son of a missionary, he was born in Bombay, India, and raised in Persia (Iran), educated by a governess and his father. He distinguished himself at Cambridge, earning a Double First BA Honours Degree and the Chancellor's Gold medal for Classics. At Cambridge Tisdall joined the OTC, rowed in his college first boat and took a Double First in Classics. In 1913 he passed both the Indian and Home Civil Service examinations and seemed destined for great things in the Treasury when the war broke out. WORLD WAR 1 Tisdall had enlisted in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in May 1914 as an Able Seaman and saw service in the abortive attempt by the Royal Naval Division to relieve the Belgian Army at Antwerp. When the mission failed and most of the Division chose internment in Holland over capture by the Germans, Tisdall was one of the few able to escape back to England. He was commissioned in October, 1914, and early in 1915 was sent to Egypt with the Division to prepare for the attempt to take Constantinople via the Gallipoli Peninsula. He served as a Sub-Lieutenant in the 13 Platoon, D Company, Anson Battalion, Royal Navy. During the landing from the S.S. River Clyde at V Beach, in the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey, on the April 25, 1915, many men were being wounded on the beach. The former collier SS River Clyde was used as a kind of Trojan horse to land troops on V Beach at Cape Helles. The ship had been prepared by cutting a series of openings in her sides and constructing gangways to her bows, the idea being to run the ship aground and have troops which had been hidden in the hold come out of the ports. They would then disembark down the gangways and cross the last few yards on a bridge of boats to reach the beach. The plan did not reckon with well dug-in Turkish forces well-armed with machine guns.
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Sub-Lieutenant Tisdall seeing the men needed assistance jumped into the water and pushing a boat in front of him went to their rescue. On shore he found the men were under heavy machine gun fire from entrenched Turkish forces. He managed to enlist help from some naval personnel and made five trips from the ship to the shore rescuing several wounded men under heavy fire, until darkness forced them to stop. Tisdall had earned the VC for action on this first day of the landings at Gallipoli. However his VC was not officially awarded until March 31, 1916, as most of the witnesses to his actions who could have identified him by name were killed in the attack and it wasn't until much later that an investigation revealed the extent of Tisdall's heroism. . Following the landings from SS 'River Clyde' on the 25th April 1915, Arthur Tisdall's platoon had carried out the supply duties that they were originally tasked with. On the 27th Tisdall had written "Have been under fire .... all day spent in burying soldiers. Some of my men killed. Plenty of hard work and enemy shells, and a smell of dead men". His courageous leadership, so evident on the first day, was plain for all to see. For five days the Anson Battalion, including Tisdall's platoon, helped to bolster the newly arrived French, while preparations were made for an advance on Achi Baba. On the 6th May 1915, whilst sheltering in an abandoned Turkish trench, SubLieutenant Arthur Tisdall was shot in the chest by a sniper and died without gaining consciousness. He was buried where he fell on the 7th May, CITATION For the award of the Victoria Cross: [London Gazette, 31 March 1916], V Beach, Gallipoli, Turkey, 25 April 1915, Sub-Lieutenant Arthur Walderne St Clair Tisdall, R.N.V.R. (Anson Battalion, Royal Naval Division). “During the landing from the S.S. "River Clyde" at V Beach in the Gallipoli Peninsula on the 25th April 1915, Sub-Lieutenant Tisdall, hearing wounded men on the beach calling for assistance, jumped into the water and pushing a boat in front of him, went to their rescue. He was, however, obliged to obtain help and took with him on two trips Leading Seaman Malia and on other trips Chief Petty Officer Perring and Leading Seaman Curtiss and Parkinson. In all Sub-Lieutenant Tisdall made four or five trips between the ship and the shore, and was thus responsible for rescuing several wounded men under heavy and accurate fire. Owing to the fact that Sub-Lieutenant Tisdall and the platoon under his orders were on detached service at the time, and that this Officer was killed in action on the 6th May, it has only now been possible to obtain complete information as to the individuals who took part in this gallant act. Of these, Leading Seaman Fred Curtiss has been missing since the 4th June 1915.
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The following awards have been approved to receive the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal (CGM):: Chief Petty Officer (now Sub Sub-Lieutenant) Lieutenant) William Perring, Leading Seaman James Malia and Leading Seaman James Parkinson Parkinson” MEDALS Medal entitlement of Sub Lieutenant Arthur Tisdall, RNVR, Anson Battalion, Royal Naval Division
Victoria Cross: 1914 Star + clasp "5th Aug Aug-22 Nov 1914": British War Medal (1914-20): (1914 Victory Medal (1914-19) + MiD Oakleaf COMMEMORATION During the Second Battle of Krithia, Gallipoli, Turkey, he was killed by a sniper. Although buried yards from where he fell, Tisdall's body was never recovered. His name is on the Helles Memorial, Gallipoli - Panel 8 - 15. And is Memorial ST. GEORGES CHURCHYARD DEAL KENT
Bedford School Library Sub Lt A W St Clair Tisdall VC Citation
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WHEELER, George Campbell VC. Wheeler was born on 7 April 1880 in Yokohama, Japan. He attended Bedford School and joined the Indian Army on 20 January 1900 as a second lieutenant unattached. Major George Campbell Wheeler won the Victoria Cross (VC) for his actions at Shumran in Mesopotamia on 23 February 1917. Together with one Gurkha officer and eight men, he crossed the River Tigris and immediately rushed the enemy's trench in spite of the heavy bombing, rifle, machine gun and artillery fire to which they were being subjected. The party of which Major Wheeler had command was successful in obtaining a footing on the river bank, when almost immediately a strong detachment of the enemy with bombers launched a violent counter-attack. At once Wheeler led a charge with another officer and three men against the on-coming enemy when he received a severe bayonet wound to the head. In spite of this, he continued to lead and disperse the enemy and save the situation. Early 1917 one of the tasks of the British troops was to clear the enemy from the important bends in the River Tigris in the progress towards Baghdad. Such an operation was mounted at Shumran Bend, which was about five miles north of Kut-el-Amara, where a boat bridge was constructed at a point where the Tigris, already swollen by flood water, was approximately 350 yards wide. The overall picture of the fighting at Shumran Bend is given in the following extract from General Maude’s despatch on Operations Leading to the Fall of Baghdad, December 1916-March 1917 “The site selected for the passage of the Tigris was at the south end of the Shumran Bend, where the bridge was to be thrown, and three ferrying places were located immediately downstream of this point. Just before daybreak on February 23rd the three ferries began to work. The first trip at the ferry immediately below the bridge site, where the Norfolks crossed, was a complete surprise, and five machine guns and some 300 prisoners were captured.
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Two battalions of Ghurkhas who were using the two lower ferries, were met by a staggering fire before they reached the left bank but in spite of losses in men and pontoons they pressed on gallantly and effected a landing. The two downstream ferries were soon under such heavy machinegun fire that they had to be closed, and all ferrying was subsequently carried on by means of the upstream ferry.
NORFOLKS CROSSING AT SHUMRAN BEND By 7.30 a.m. about three companies of the Norfolks and some 150 of the Ghurkhas were on the left bank. The enemy's artillery became increasingly active, but was vigorously engaged by ours, and the construction of the bridge commenced. The Norfolks pushed rapidly upstream on the left bank, taking many prisoners, while our machine guns on the right bank, west of the Shumran Bend, inflicted casualties on those Turks who tried to escape. The Ghurka battalions on the right and centre were meeting with more opposition, and their progress was slower. By 3 p.m. all three battalions were established on the east and west line one mile north of the bridge site, and a fourth battalion was being ferried over.
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The enemy attempted to counter-attack down the centre of the peninsula and to reinforce along its western edge, but both attempts were foiled by the quickness and accuracy of our artillery. At 4.30 p.m. the bridge was ready for traffic. By nightfall, as a result of the day's operations, our troops had, by their unconquerable valour and determination, forced a passage across a river in flood, 340 yards wide, in face of strong opposition, and had secured a position 2,000 yards in depth, covering the bridgehead, while ahead of this line our patrols were acting vigorously against the enemy's advanced detachments, who had suffered heavy losses, including about 700 prisoners taken in all. The infantry of one division were across and another division was ready to follow. During this day's fighting at Shumran heavy losses had been inflicted on the enemy, and our captures have been increased in all to four field guns, eight machine guns, some 1,650 prisoners, and a large quantity of rifles, ammunition, equipment and war stores. The gunboats were now ordered upstream from Falahiyeh, and reached Kut the same evening.” ACTION OF THE 2/9TH GURKHAS On the 23rd of February 1917 the 14th Division started crossing the Tigris at daybreak. The main crossing was led by Major George Campbell Wheeler of the 2nd Battalion 9th Gurkha Rifles, Indian Army, when he took his D Coy across the River Tigris see map at bottom right hand corner. The crossing was made with 13 boats similar to those shown with the Norfolk troops. Only 10 made it to the other side as 3 drifted downstream. The boats were met with heavy gun fire and bombs from the Turkish trenches, which were close to the river bank. These trenches were soon taken as more Gurkhas landed. The Turks counter attacked in about platoon strength. To counter this threat Wheeler and Russell together with three Gurkhas charged the approaching enemy with bombs and bayonets. The Turks were successfully repelled and Wheeler sustained a bad cut to his head from a bayonet. He was able to hold some 200 yards of trench near the area marked Liquorish Factory. As he became reinforced by more men they were able to expand into a secure bridge head. CITATION The London Gazette: no.30122, p.5702: of 8 June 1917, “The Victoria Cross was awarded to George Campbell Wheeler, Major, 2/9th Gurkha Rifles, Indian Army. For most conspicuous bravery and determination. This officer, together with one Gurkha officer and eight men, crossed a river and immediately rushed the enemy's trench under heavy bombing, rifle, machine-gun and artillery fire. Having obtained a footing on the river bank, he was almost immediately afterwards counter-attacked by a strong enemy party with bombers. Major Campbell Wheeler at once led a charge with another officer and three men, receiving a severe bayonet wound in the head, but managed, in spite of this, to disperse the enemy. This bold action on his part undoubtedly saved the situation. In spite of his wound, he continued to consolidate his position.” Lieutenant Russell received the DSO.
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MEDALS
NAM Image Number 43602 The Victoria Cross: the British War Medal 1914 1914-20: Allied Victory Medal 1914-19 19 (with Mention in Despatches clasp): the India General Service Medal 1908 1908-35, 35, with clasps for Waziristan 1919-21 1919 and Waziristan 1921-24 24 and the King George VI Coronation Medal 1937. POST WW1 After being awarded the VC he subsequently commanded the 1st Battalion of the 9th Gurkha Rifles from 1923 until 1927. Wheeler retired to Barton Barton-on-Sea where he died in 1939 COMMEMORATED
58) Barton-on-Sea, Sea, Hampshire He died 26 August 1938 (aged 58 MEMORIAL Bedford School hool Library displays his citat citation
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WHEELER, George (Godfrey) Massy VC Born 31 January 1873, Chakrata, India. Wheeler son of General Wheeler and was a grandson of Sir Hugh Massy Wheeler. He was educated at Bedford Modern School. He joined the Army on the 20th May 1893. He served initially with the 1st Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment transferring to the Indian Army on the October the 13th October 1897 assigned to the 7th Hariana Lancers. He was promoted to Captain in 1902 and from 1908 to 1912 was the Commandant of the 50th Camel Corps. In 1911 he became a Major. In 1908 he served in operations on the North West Frontier. He was a good polo player and a devoted Regimental Officer.
In 1900 he married Nellie Purcell, a daughter of the surgeon Ferdinand Purcell.
CITATION An extract from "The London Gazette," No. 29281, dated 31st Aug., 1915, records the following:-"For most conspicuous bravery at Shaiba, Mesopotamia. On the 12th April, 1915, Major Wheeler asked permission to take out his Squadron and attempt to capture a flag, which was the centre point of a group of the enemy who were firing on one of our picquets. He advanced and attacked the enemy's infantry with the Lance, doing considerable execution among them. He then retired while the enemy swarmed out of hidden ground and formed an excellent target to our Royal Horse Artillery guns. On the 13th April, 1915, Major Wheeler led his Squadron to the attack of the "North Mound". He was seen far ahead of his men riding single-handed straight for the enemy's standards. This gallant Officer was killed on the Mound."
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MEDALS
Victoria Cross: Indian General Service Medal with clasp for NW Frontier: 1914 - 15 Star: the British War Medal 1914-20: Allied Victory Medal 1914-19. COMMEMORATION Date of Death: 13/04/1915. Age: 42. There is a Memorial at Bedford Modern School
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Various memorials to him
Basra War Cemetery (Cemetery damaged during the Iraq - Iran War and again during the Allied invasion 2003/ 04), Iraq Grave Reference: plot III. Row C:: Grave 22. Cemetery: BASRA WAR CEMETERY
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SOURCES 1. “THE V.C. AND D.S.O. BOOK: THE VICTORIA CROSS 1856 -1920” Naval & Military Press 2. The London Gazette 3. IWM 4. Commonwealth War Graves Data Bank. 5. 1911 Census, 1901 Census 6. The War Graves Photographic Project 7. The Victoria Cross Organization 8. Find a grave memorials 9. “The Bedfordshire Regiment in the Great War” Website. 10. Local Newspapers 11. The “HELL FIRE CORNER” website 12. The “Long Long Trail” website 13. The 13 volumes entitled the “Great War” publisher/ authors not given but believed possibly issued by the Daily Mail in the 1920s 14. 'A Tiger and a Fusilier'. by Derek Seaton 15. In a number of cases the pictures of medals are not the recipients but of replicas. 16. Captain FAM Webster's book 'The History of the Fifth Battalion Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment’ 17. National Army Museum profile on George Wheeler VC plus an article published by the Western Front Association. 18. Career information on Newall from http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Newall.htm PLEASE NOTE that we obtained special dispensation from a number of agencies including the CWGC, the IWM and the War Graves photographic project regarding copyright on their material used in this book. The IWM have granted a non commercial licence for their material used in this book. This was granted in view of the nature of the book being commemorative rather than published for commercial reasons. (C) NOTE THEIR COPYRIGHT STILL REMAINS ON THIS MATERIAL USED ELSEWHERE.
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