Granville Allen Mawer - Uncommon Valour: The Story of the Victoria Cross

UNCOMMON VALOUR

The Cross shall only be awarded to those who have served Us in the presence of the Enemy .
Victoria R

The only enemy is yourself .
John Smyth VC

THE STORY OF THE VICTORIA CROSS

GRANVILLE ALLEN MAWER

First published in Great Britain in 2019 by

PEN AND SWORD MILITARY

An imprint of Pen & Sword Books Ltd Yorkshire Philadelphia

Copyright Granville Allen Mawer, 2019

ISBN 978 1 52675 538 4

eISBN 978 1 52675 539 1

MobiISBN 978 1 52675 540 7

The right of Granville Allen Mawer to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by them 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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In memory of Alec Hill and John Ward who inspired

This book has had more false starts than I care to remember but for the last decade it has been informally coached by Professor Peter Stanley of the Australian Defence Force Academy. It is not going too far to say that without his enthusiasm for the project and his encouragement it might never have left the blocks cleanly.

I had the privilege of being able to access the collections of the National Library of Australia through its Petherick Room. The assistance of Andrew Sergeant, the Petherick Librarian, and the other staff members made the research an adventure rather than a chore. I am grateful to them all, and likewise to a number of Petherick colleagues who have humoured me over the years. Foremost is Dr Penny Olsen, who has always been kind enough to listen and act as a sounding board. Thanks are also due to Dr Ann Moyal, who suggested that the work might benefit from early exposure to a chapter of the University of the Third Age. She was right.

In these interesting times for writers and publishers of non-fiction I was fortunate that Rupert Harding, commissioning editor for Pen & Sword, could see possibilities in an unconventional treatment of the Victoria Cross.

Illustrations are courtesy of Wikimedia Commons unless otherwise attributed

Queen Victoria distributing the first Victoria Crosses in Hyde Park, 26 June 1857. (George Housman Thomas) p13

The Plain Cross of Valour ( Punch ) p14

Guy Penrose Gibson (Ministry of Information) p25

Incidents in Kavanaghs Perilous Journey ( Heroes of Britain in Peace and War ) p27

Private Mariner bombing the enemy (William Spencer Bagdatopulos)

Billy Bishop and his Nieuport Scout. p32

Death of Lieutenant Anstruther (C. R.) p35

Roberts winning the Victoria Cross (Sidney Paget) p36

Spurred for the river hotly pursued by the enemy (Stanley Llewellyn Wood) p37

Lieutenant the Hon F.H.S. Roberts, falling wounded while saving the guns at Colenso. (Frank Algernon Stewart) p38

Major Wheeler riding to his death at the North Mound. (William Spencer Bagdatopulos)p41

The Russian took to his heels and fled, and Bell, seizing the bridle of one of the horses, was leading him ( Heroes of Britain in Peace and War ) p43

Lieutenant W.N.W. Hewett refusing to spike the gun in the Lancaster Battery. ( The Victoria Cross, By Whom it was Won ) p44

The last stage of Lieutenant Smyths heroic journey. (Margaret Dovaston) p46

Heroes of Manchester Hill. ( Daily Sketch ) p48

P.A. Porteous (OConnell) p51

Sir James Outram, Sir Colin Campbell and Sir Henry Havelock. ( Heroes of Britain in Peace and War ) p53

Sarah Sands ( Cornhill Magazine ) p59

The Defence of Rorkes Drift, 1879. (Alphonse de Neuville) p66

Boy Cornwell VC (Frank Salisbury) p76

D.J. Nicolson (Ministry of Information) p78

Reginald Warnefords monument. p80

Lieutenant W. Robinson attacks an enemy airship and brings it down in flames. (W. Avis) p81

J.A. Ward (Ministry of Information) p86

A.C. Hulme (Ministry of Information) p88

Private Keysor saving the lives of his comrades by throwing back for almost fifty hours Turkish bombs flung into his trench. (Ernest Smythe) p91

How Lance Corporal OLeary captured the machine gun. (Fortunino Matania) p94

Recruiting poster featuring Michael OLeary. p95

In the absence of guns, Kerr and his trusty follower Gumput set to work with crowbars to force a passage. ( Heroes of Britain in Peace and War ) p96

The Persian War: The charge of the 3rd Bombay Cavalry at the Battle of Kooshab. ( Illustrated London News ) p100

J.C. Campbell (Ministry of Information) p103

Birds-Eye View of the Battle of El-Teb. (G.W. Bacon and Co.) p104

A.H. Wakenshaw (N. Y.) p118

Lance Corporal Jacka holding a trench against seven Turks. (Margaret Dovaston) p119

C.H. Upham (Ministry of Information) p121

Captain A.C. De Wiart advancing to the attack through an intense fire barrage. (John Harris Valda) p127

the Queen came down, and with her own hands fastened the coveted decoration on the breasts of men of all ranks and ages. (C.R.) p130

Drummer W. Ritchie standing on the enemys parapet to sound the charge (Howard Elcock) p131

Blowing up the Cashmere Gate at Delhi (Darley and Ridgway) p132

How Piper Laidlaw won the Victoria Cross at Loos. (Samuel Begg) p134

Preparing to blow the sepoys from the cannons mouth. ( Illustrated London News ) p136

Temporary Lieutenant Wilfred Dartnell sacrifices his life in staying with his wounded men. (Alfred Pearse) p138

Mr Lucas throwing the burning shell off the deck of the Hecla at Bomersund. (Edwin Thomas Dolby) p140

Second Lieutenant A.V. Smith throws himself on a live bomb, sacrificing his life for his comrades. (John Harris Valda) p141

Sapper W. Hackett refuses to leave a comrade who was lying seriously injured in a mine gallery. (Alfred Pearse) p142

Second Lieutenant Dallas-Moor rallies a detachment which had momentarily broken before a furious Turkish assault. (Alfred Pearse) p147

Harold Auten, disguised as a merchant skipper, aboard a Q-boat. ( Illustrated London News ) p149

The Jervis Bay action, 5 November 1940. (Charles Pears) p164

G.C.T. Keyes (S. Whitear) p173

Figures

Awards by war, p2

Awards by service, p16

Awards by nature of act, p49

Awards by rank, p105

Posthumous awards, p108

Awards for rescue or protection, p143

Awards during the world wars, p170