Brazier - The Complete Victoria Cross: A Full Chronological Record of All Holders of Britain’s Highest Award for Gallantry

First published in Great Britain in 2010
Published in this format in 2015 by
Pen & Sword Military
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S70 2AS

Copyright Kevin Brazier 2010, 2015

ISBN: 978 1 47384 351 6
PDF ISBN: 978 1 47387 153 3
EPUB ISBN: 978 1 47387 206 6
PRC ISBN: 978 1 47387 205 9

The right of Kevin Brazier to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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CONTENTS

For my dad, Ian,
who sadly did not live long enough
to see it finished.

Ballad of the Victoria Cross

I am the pride of the valiant Brave:

I am the shame of the coward knave:

Look through the world is there prouder need

Than the plain bronze Cross of the golden deed.

Harold Begbie

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My initial thanks must go to my friends who have helped and supported me throughout this project; they are: David Brown, Joe Dever, Richard Jackson, Lance Renetzke for his knowledge of Indian Army rankings, Andrew Cross for his knowledge of naval rankings and for checking cemeteries in Scotland and the north of England, Frank Jones for checking cemeteries in the south of England and Jill Sugden for her many hours of research.

I would also like to thank Barry Nelms for introducing me to the Union Jack Club, and Martin Murphy of the Union Jack Club for his help in the early days of my research. My thanks also go to Colin Godley for his help with information on his grandfather Sidney Godley VC.

Brian Best BA and Tom Johnson BEM of the Victoria Cross Society have given me a great deal of assistance, and their help has been invaluable. I must thank Kyle Nappi for putting me in touch with Edward Kenna VC and Ian Fraser VC, and likewise Didy Grahame OBE, MVO of the VC and GC Association for her help and for putting me in touch with Willie Apiata VC, Johnson Beharry VC, John Cruickshank VC, Mark Donaldson VC, Lachhiman Gurung VC, Keith Payne VC, Rambahadur Limbu VC, William Speakman VC, Tulbahadur Pun VC and Eric Wilson VC.

Three websites have proved to be of great help: Brian Bests at www.Victoriacrosssociety.com, Mike Chapmans at www.victoriacross.net and Iain Stewarts at www.victoriacross.org.uk/vcross.htm. I am most grateful also to the Photographic Department of the Imperial War Museum, the Trustees of the Army Medical Corps Museum and the Victoria Cross Society for allowing me to reproduce some of their photographs for this book.

I must thank the staff at the many cemeteries I have visited, or spoken to on the phone, who have been very helpful in finding the exact location of a great many VC holders. Also my gratitude is due to the staff at many of the museums I have been in contact with, but special thanks go to the Coins and Medals Department of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; to Geoff Preece, Museum and Galleries Manager of the Museum & Art Gallery, Doncaster; to Chris Griffiths, Deputy Curator of the Royal Engineers Museum, Gillingham; to Tina Pittock, Curator of the Airborne Forces Museum, Aldershot (now at Duxford); to Derek Marrison, Curator of the Army Medical Corps Museum, Mytchett; to Gary Gibbs, Assistant Curator of the Guards Museum, London; to Mark Smith, Regimental Historical Secretary and Curator of the Royal Artillery Historical Trust, Woolwich; to Fergus Read, Head of Department of the Imperial War Museum, London; and to Lesley Smurthwaite, Department of Uniforms, Badges and Medals of the National Army Museum, Chelsea.

I must thank my editor, Sarah Cook, for guiding me through the publishing process, and my very special thanks go to Keith Payne VC for writing the Foreword. Last, but by no means least, is my wife, Teresa: thanks for putting up with all those nights and weekends without me while I was locked away working.

Thanks to all those who have contacted me with new, updated or correct information for this revised edition, especially Mark Green, whose help has been most useful.

FOREWORD

by Keith Payne VC

The Victoria Cross is a very special subject, so when I was asked to write this Foreword I felt immensely proud. Proud to be asked and proud of all the remarkable men on whom the award has been bestowed over the last 150 years, some of whom Ive been lucky enough to have known.

The men who have been awarded the VC exemplify all the qualities we hold dear: duty, loyalty, humility and sacrifice. For many of these men it did not bring them fame or fortune, nor did they seek it. In fact, in many cases it was a millstone around their neck: it did not guarantee them work when the fighting was over, it did not feed their families when they were hungry and it did not guarantee them happiness.

For the first time this work has brought together the three things that I believe a book about the VC should have: complete lists of all VC holders, the locations of every known VC and the last resting-places of all VC holders. The list of VC holders in chronological order is one of the most innovative ideas Ive seen in a very long time. This book should stand as one of the best works on the subject and is a must for any military enthusiast.

I was surprised to learn that 75 VC holders are still buried in unmarked graves, and the author is right to ask anyone finding one to try to do something about it. It is a sad but inevitable fact that the number of living VC holders is dwindling, but I am privileged to count myself as one of these happy few. This work will be a lasting memorial to all VC holders, living and dead. I am delighted to write this short Foreword as I feel this is a book worth reading and I wish it every success.

PREFACE

As a small boy growing up in the 1960s, there was only one thing that really interested me, that being anything to do with the military. War books, comics, films and models were at the top of my list. Being dyslexic, however, meant that my appreciation of books and comics was limited mostly to looking at the pictures. So when I found out that my father had actually served in the Merchant Navy in the Second World War, he assumed a new greatness in my mind. But it was a subject he did not like to talk about, much to my dissatisfaction. It was only as I got older that he would tell me the odd story. My happiest memory of him is when we both sat down to watch Das Boot together. He was shocked to see how bad things were for the Germans serving in U-boats, and I think slightly surprised at my knowledge of the subject. We talked almost continually throughout, until the part where the merchant ship is torpedoed and set on fire. Suddenly he went very quiet, and I remembered him telling me once about a time when men who had been in the water were brought aboard his ship and they all died a very painful death, having swallowed sea water mixed with oil.