Victoria Cross Holders with a local connection

Thomas was in command of the guard of honour when the Colours of the Regiment (1st Bengal European Regiment, Light Infantry) were deposited in Winchester Cathedral on the 18th of July 1871.

Thomas was given the honorary rank of Major, on the 30th of September 1874, on retiring on a pension. Published in the London Gazette on the 29th of September 1874, Issue 24135, Page 4535.

Living at Castle Street, Portchester, Hampshire, in the 1881 census. Thomas now aged 45 is living with wife Anna.

Thomas' wife Anna died on the 12th of December 1887. (Anna died on the couples 28th wedding anniversary).

Living at 2 Frith Knowle Villa, Brookhurst Road, Gosport, Hampshire, in the 1891 census. Thomas now aged 55, is widowed and gives his occupation as a Retired Army Officer.

Thomas married Harriet Annie Davidson, on the 24th of August 1893. registered on the Isle of Mann.

Living at Lyndale, Camberley, Surrey, in the 1901 census. Thomas is living with wife Harriet, and his sister-in-law.

Thomas died aged 65 on the 17th of May 1901.

Buried at St. Michael's, Yorktown, Camberley, Surrey, on the 20th of May 1901.

Thomas was awarded the following medals;

Victoria Cross (No.239)

Indian Mutiny Medal 1857-1858, with clasps Delhi and Lucknow.

Awarded the Indian General Service Medal 1854-1859, with clasp Umbeyla.

The Victoria Cross awarded to Thomas is on display at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

William George Cubitt V.C. D.S.O. 1835 - 1903

Born on the 19th of October 1835 at Calcutta, India.

Son of Major William Cubitt, of the18th Bengal Native Infantry, and Harriet Harcourt who had married at Calcutta in February 1834.

His father had become a cadet in the East India Company's Bengal army at the age of fifteen in 1805 and arrived in India the following year, seeing active service in the Nepal War of 1814-16 and in the First Burma War a decade later. At the time of his marriage and the birth of his first child, Captain Cubitt was Assistant Secretary to the Bengal Government Military Department in Calcutta. Promoted Major in 1839, he died in the following year - before William's fifth birthday. His widow and children returned to England following his death and in 1843, Harriet Cubitt remarried, to William Archer Shee. His step-father, eldest son of the portraitist Sir Martin Archer Shee, became a significant figure in the life of William George Cubitt.

William was educated privately and also attended the school run by the Reverend John Buckland at Laleham, near Chertsey in Surrey.

William's family were living in Germany in 1853. William was instructed in religious education by the chaplain to the British residents in Bonn, Germany. In June 1853, his mother, then resident in Mannheim, applied on his behalf for a cadetship in the Bengal Native Infantry and secured his nomination for that cadetship from the Chairman of the Court of Directors of the East India Company, William Butterworth Bayley.

William passed the examination for a Commission into the 13th Bengal Native Infantry.

Commissioned as Ensign, 13th Bengal Native Infantry on the 26th of July 1853.

Present at the Suppression of the Santhall rebellion in Jharkand, eastern Bengal, 1855.

Promoted to Lieutenant on the 23rd of November 1856.

Present at the Indian Mutiny which begun in May 1857.

When the Indian Mutiny erupted, at the beginning of May 1857, William's regiment was one of those forming the garrison of Lucknow, capital of the state of Oudh. The Mutiny rapidly spread outward from its beginnings among the soldiers of several regiments of Bengal native cavalry and infantry of the Meerut garrison. Warning of the Mutiny gave the garrison at Lucknow some time to prepare for the defence of part of the city, centred upon the Residency of the Chief Commissioner for Oudh, Sir Henry Lawrence, and a dilapidated fort, the Macchi Bhawan.

At the end of May, some of the Lucknow garrison mutinied, Sir Henry Lawrence's loyal sepoys and British troops expelled the mutinous units, pursuing, capturing and summarily executing a great many. By the end of June, Lawrence heard that the garrison at Cawnpore was on the verge of surrender, he knew that it would be Lucknow's turn next and so preparations for its defence were increased. During June, the garrison had been reorganised, with any elements whose loyalty was questionable being expelled and with the Sikhs redeployed into Sikh companies. William's regiment, the 13th Native Infantry, was one of the few such units to remain loyal and it was to that loyalty on the part of a few Sepoy regiments that the successful defence of Lucknow was largely attributable.

Acting on the strike first principle, Sir Henry Lawrence decided to conduct a reconnaissance in strength against the mutineers approaching Lucknow from the village of Chinhut. Without realising it until too late, Lawrence committed a small force from the garrison against a mutineer brigade ten times its size. That error, explicable by the faulty intelligence he was being fed, was exacerbated by the failure to coordinate the military and supply side of the small garrison force. The result was predictable but the ensuing disaster was marked by individual acts of gallantry, among which was that of Lieutenant William George Cubitt.

Just before dawn on the morning of the 30th of June 1857, an extremely hot time of the year and one in which the monsoon was late, the advance from Lucknow was delayed by the late arrival of one of its contingents. The troops were unbreakfasted and sweltering as they set off towards Chinhut the advance was slow and hampered by the ponderous movement of elephants drawing an eight-inch howitzer. After two hours, the garrison force had barely covered the same number of miles, without any sight of the mutineers, so Lawrence ordered a halt for breakfast. While camp-fires were being lit and appetites sharpened among the men, Lawrence and his staff rode forward towards Chinhut but found no sign of any mutineers. Convinced that the mutineers posed no immediate threat to Lucknow, Sir Henry Lawrence ordered the troops to return to the city but almost immediately the order to advance was again given, as Lawrence was talked into it by his younger over-optimistic members of his staff. So the fires were put out, the troops still hadn't eaten and the march towards Chinhut resumed.

It was now the hottest time of day and the British soldiers began to suffer from heat, hunger and shortage of water. The column moved slowly towards the village of Chinhut and soon came under well-directed artillery fire and observing the effects of direct hits did nothing to improve the morale of the non-combatants among the Indian troops and the logistics column began to weaken as the inevitable native desertions began. In the face of the mutineers' artillery, Lawrence shook his column out into line and deployed forward, either side of the road, to attempt to take the mutineer's positions, which appeared to be based in two villages flanking the road. The artillery guns remained on the road and were soon engaging in effective counter-battery fire.

The loyal Indian soldiers were initially successful in storming the village on the right of the road but the 32nd (Cornwall) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) were unable to deploy sufficiently rapidly to their front to take the other village, Ismaelganj. As the advance of the 32nd slowed, the officers began to fall. Many of the 32nd attempted to return fire but some found that their muskets - loaded since before dawn and so with the charges in the breeches dampened by the humidity - refused to function and so the soldiers had, under fire, had to draw the charges before their muskets could be reloaded. A sizeable body of mutineers was by that time in possession of Ismaelganj and pinning down the 32nd with accurate musketry, they had, after all, been trained by British officers and N.C.O.s and knew their business.

After about an hour, the artillery duel petered-out, the garrison force briefly encouraged as the mutineers' artillery slackened and then fell silent. The firefight outside Ismaelganj continued, with the 32nd still halted in its advance and suffering continuing casualties from accurate and sustained volleys of mutineer musketry. The mutineer force, numbering some six thousand or so, was stiffened by a trained core of Bengal native regiments, cavalry and infantry, which was very well led by a mutineer Rissaldar (captain of cavalry) Barkat Ahmed. The reason for the cessation of the mutineer artillery rapidly became obvious, a general advance had been ordered.

John Lawrence, a civilian serving with a troop of Volunteer Cavalry published eye-witness accounts of this part of the Battle of Chinhut:

"After an hour's cannonade, the opposite artillery ceased its fire: in a few minutes rolling volleys of musketry from the village of Ishmaelgunge showed that Jack sepoy was there. The Volunteer Cavalry was ordered to move further to the right, and then, for the first time, I got a view of the plain between Ishmaelgunge and Chinhutt. It was one moving mass of men: regiment after regiment of the insurgents poured steadily towards us, the flanks covered with a foam of skirmishers, the light puffs of smoke from their muskets floating from every ravine and bunch of grass in our front. As to the mass of the troops, they came on in quarter-distance columns, the standards waving in their places, and everything performed as steadily as possible. A field day on parade could not have been better … Our artillery ceased its fire but beyond might be heard the crashing roll of musketry in Ishamaelgunge, where the 32nd, outnumbered by myriads, still maintained a struggle … a bustle in my rear attracted my attention: the rascally gunners were cutting their traces and were galloping away; the elephants for the howitzer gone … A few European gunners, the Volunteer Cavalry, and the 32nd remained; but now the enemy pressed on more closely - he unlimbered his guns and swept us with grape and canister; the deadly mitraille of musketry poured in one leaden shower from the swarming skirmishers. And now the valiant few of the 32nd are beaten near the village and come upon the road; their gallant Colonel (Case) falls dead as he approaches; some of our guns are spiked and abandoned (the howitzer among them), four are limbered, and gun carriages, covered with wounded men, gallop towards Lucknow. The 32nd also retreat; mixed up with them are some of the braves of the 13th Native Infantry - noble fellows, who were seen carrying wounded soldiers to the gun-carriages, abandoning their own wounded comrades on the ground. The Volunteer Cavalry form upon the left of the road; the rest of the handful of England's army is in retreat. A cloud of insurgent cavalry is gathering on the far rear to the left of our retreating column. Do they mean to charge down among those staggering, half-dead heroes, who can scarcely walk along? The red and the blue flags thicken among them; when the tremendous voice of our leader (Captain Radcliffe of the 7th Light Cavalry), is heard, - 'Three's right!' 'Trot!' and we sweep out of the trees, and off the road, and we are within a quarter of a mile of our opponents. ... now two light guns open on us, but the 9-pounder scarce whistled over head when the stentorian 'Charge!' was heard; the notes of our trumpet sounded sharp above the din of the fight, and we rode straight at them; the cowards never bided the shock; they galloped like furies from the spot. Five hundred cavalry and two guns to be hunted by thirty-five sabres; it was a miserable fact … The battle of Chinhutt was done; the line of our retreat was marked by the bodies of the 32nd, their arms, their accoutrements; men were falling untouched by ball; the heat of a June sun was killing more than the enemy. Hard upon our heels they followed; and as we got into the Residency so did the round shot of the pursuing foe whistle in the air… "

William Cubitt served with the troop of Volunteer Cavalry at Chinhut, on detachment from his regiment. As the citation for the award of his Victoria Cross recounted, he was also active in the retreat, collecting, first, Lance-Corporal Kirby, whom he sat behind him on his horse, and, then, two privates of the 32nd, whom he dragged along as they clung to his stirrups. All that while being hotly pursued by the mutineers, who neither gave nor expected quarter, there can be no doubt that Cubitt saved those three soldiers from certain death - and probably a death that would have been bloody and prolonged. Sepoys loyal to the British, especially those of the 13th Bengal Native Infantry, saved many British soldiers, even at the cost of abandoning their own wounded men, who were hacked to pieces by the mutineers. As a result of the defeat, the detached turreted building, Machchhi Bhawan, which contained 200 barrels of gunpowder and a large supply of ball cartridge, was blown up and the detachment withdrew to the Residency.

The Siege of Lucknow begun proper with the 1st attack on the 1st of July 1857. The garrison comprising of 855 British officers and soldiers, 712 Indians, 153 civilian volunteers, and 1,280 non-combatants, including hundreds of women and children. The next day, Sir Henry Lawrence was fatally wounded by a shell, dying on the 4th of July. Colonel John Inglis of the 32nd Regiment took military command of the garrison. About 8,000 sepoys who had joined the rebellion and several hundred retainers of local landowners surrounded the Residency. They had some modern guns and also some older pieces which fired all sorts of improvised missiles. There were several determined attempts to storm the defences during the first weeks of the siege, but the rebels lacked a unified command able to coordinate all the besieging forces.

The defenders, their number constantly reduced by military action as well as disease, were able to repulse all attempts to overwhelm them. The relief force led firstly by Major General Henry Havelock, then by Major General Outram, finally arrived after 87 days .

Wounded In Action on the 25th of September 1857. During the siege of the Residency, William served with equal distinction under Lieutenant Robert Aitken as part the Baillie Guard 'garrison' and was severely wounded, just one of several close calls experienced by him during the siege.

William spent his time recovering from his wounds until the 2nd relief of Lucknow in November 1857 and the subsequent evacuation.

Invalided back to England in 1858. William returned to England to recover from his wounds.

Awarded the Victoria Cross for Valour. Published in the London Gazette on the 21st of June 1859, Issue 22278, Page 2420.

"For having on the retreat from Chinhut, on the 30th of June 1857, saved the lives of three men of the 32nd Regiment, at risk of his own.

Presented his V.C. by Queen Victoria on the 4th of January 1860 at Windsor Castle.

Posted to India 1861.

William rejoined his old regiment that was now renumbered the 16th Bengal Native Infantry. In 1864, the Regiment was sub-titled 'The Lucknow Regiment' in honour of its loyal service during the siege.

William married Charlotte Isabelle Hills at St Peter's Church, Fort William, Calcutta, on the 19th of May 1863.

His bride Charlotte, was sister of James Hills, V.C. of Delhi in 1857 - and, eventually, aunt of Brigadier Lewis Pugh Evans, V.C. The marriage produced five children.

Appointed as Adjutant, 16th Bengal Native Infantry, 1862.

Promoted to Captain on the 26th of July 1865.

Appointed as Brigade Major at Benares (now Vanares, India) in 1867.

Appointed as "Wing Officer" (2nd In Command) 16th Bengal Native Infantry in 1872.

Promoted to Major on the 16th of July 1873.

Appointed as officiating station officer at Dacca, India, in 1873 until 1874.

Served on the expedition against the Dufflas on the North-East Frontier, India, in 1875. William was Mentioned In Despatches.

In early January 1876, William was summoned to Lucknow to attend the Prince of Wales, then on his tour of India. As Dr. Fayrer, who was also in attendance upon the Prince, recorded, the Prince's party toured the area of the siege and the Prince laid the foundation stone of a memorial to those loyal Indian soldiers who had died during the siege. At the ceremony, Fayrer recalled:

"I stood with three other officers - Smith, Cubitt and Birch, the only commissioned officers of the old garrison present - opposite to the Prince, the old sepoy pensioners and others of the garrison drawn up near us. … the survivors were present to him [the Prince] by Cubitt, Birch and myself."

Posted to Afghanistan, in 1878. William served in the Second Afghan War

Promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel on the 26th of July 1879.

Attached to the Bengal Staff Corps in 1879.

William served as second-in-command of the 16th (Lucknow) Bengal Native Infantry in 1880, in which capacity he was employed in the Khyber Line Force and commanded the fort at Ali Musjid during the Second Afghan War until May 1880, when he was invalided - and nearly died - as a result of blood poisoning.

"The Queen has been pleased to. give and grant unto the under-mentioned Officers in Her Majesty's Army "Her Royal licence and authority that they may accept and wear the Insignia of the Order of the Brilliant Star of Zanzibar (of the class signified against their respective names, which decoration' His Highness the late Sultan of Zanzibar was pleased to confer upon them in recognition of their active and distinguished service before the enemy during the military operations which took place in

His late Highness's mainland dominions in March and April last: —

Second Class;

Captain Charles John Melliss, 9th Bombay Infantry."

Posted to India 1897.

Charles served on the Northwest Frontier and was present at the operations in the Khurram Valley in August and September 1897. He served in the Tirah Campaign of 1897-1898, taking part in the action on the Dargai Heights, and the Bara Valley.

Posted to Africa 1898.

Charles served with the 1st Battalion Northern Nigeria Regiment, West African Frontier Force on operations during the Third Ashanti Expedition from March 1900 including the Relief of Kumassi. Charles was wounded four times during these operations, once severely and was Mentioned in Despatches twice.

Appointed as Local Major whilst employed on the Gold Coast, Africa with the West African Frontier Force, on the 15th of August 1900. Published in the London Gazette on the 14th of August 1900. Issue 27220, Page 5037.

Mentioned In Despatches by Colonel Sir James Willcocks, K.C.M.G., D S.O., Commanding Ashanti Field Force. Published in the London Gazette on the 4th of December 1900. Issue 27253, Page 8210.

"Captain (local Major) C. J. Melliss, Indian Staff Corps, 1st Battalion West African Frontier Force.—A gallant officer and always to the fore (twice wounded); has seen much active service; has been invaluable here. I recommend him for a special reward."

Awarded the Victoria Cross for Valour at Obassa, Ashanti. Published in the London Gazette on the 15th of January 1901. Issue 27266, Page 307.

"On the 30th September, 1900, at Obassa, Major Melliss, seeing that the enemy were very numerous, and intended to make a firm stand, hastily collected all stray men and any he could get together, and charged at their head, into the dense bush where the enemy were thick. His action carried all along with him ; but the enemy were determined to have a hand-to-hand fight. One fired at Major Melliss, who put his sword through the man, and they rolled over together. Another Ashanti shot him through the foot, the wound paralysing the limb. His wild rush had, however, caused a regular panic among the enemy, who were at the same time charged by the Sikhs, and killed in numbers. Major Melliss also behaved with great gallantry on three previous occasions."

Mentioned In Despatches. Published in the London Gazette on the 8th of March 1901. Issue 27292, Page 1646.

"Captain (local Major) C. J. Melliss, V.C., Indian Staff Corps.—Although this Officer has been awarded the Victoria Cross for valour, his work throughout the campaign has been so valuable and conspicuous that I sincerely trust he will be noted for higher promotion on attaining the rank of Major which he is now near. He has 18 years' service, but is held back by the rules for promotion in the Indian Staff Corps."

Promoted to Major on the 10th of July 1901. Published in the London Gazette on the 4th of October 1901. Issue 27362, Page 6487.

Appointed Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Indian Staff Corps, in recognition of his services during operations in Ashanti, on the 11tth of July 1901. Published in the London Gazette on the 15th of October 1901. Issue 27365, Page:6713.

Appointed as Local Rank of Lieutenant-Colonel while 2nd In Command of the West African Frontier Force, Northern Nigeria. Published in the London Gazette on the

Charles married Kathleen Lucy Walter, daughter of Major-General J. M. Walter, CB., between July and September 1901.

Charles was presented with his V.C. medal on the 12th of October 1901 at St James’ Palace, London by King Edward VII.

Appointed as Commanding Officer 101st Grenadiers Indian Army, unknown date.

Posted to East Africa, 1902.

Charles served on operations in Somaliland with the 101st Grenadiers Indian Army between 1902 and 1904.

Charles was badly mauled by a lion, almost losing his arm whilst hunting in Somaliland, 1903.

Mentioned In Despatches. Published in the London Gazette on the 2nd of September 1904. Issue 27710, Page 5683.

"Brevet Lieut.-Colonel C. J. Melliss, V.C., the 101st Grenadiers. Has done good service in command of the regiment, but more especially in command of some tribal levies which did excellent partisan service before and during the second phase of the operations."

Awarded the African General Service Medal with clasp Somaliland 1902 - 1904.

Appointed Commanding Officer of the 53rd Sikh Frontier Force, 1906.

Appointed as Aide-De-Camp to the King from 1907 until 1912.

Awarded for the King's Coronation, Ordinary Member of the said Most Honourable Order of Bath (C.B.) on the 19th of June 1911. Published in the Edinburgh Gazette on the 23 June 1911 Issue 12366, Page 628.

Attached to the 6th (Poona) Division Indian Army, 1914.

In November 1914 the 6th (Poona) Division were the first British Indian troops to land in Mesopotamia capturing Fao Fortress which was the main Ottoman fortress on the Persian Gulf coast. The British managed to capture the fort and 300 Ottoman prisoners and march unopposed into the port of Fao on the 9th of November 1914 where the rest of the 6th Division landed.

In April 1915, Charles was instrumental in the British victory at Shaiba.

Awarded for distinguished service in the field, Knight Commander of the said Most Honourable Order of Bath (K.C.B.). Published in the London Gazette on the 29th of October 1915. Supplement 29344, Page 10727.

Charles fought in the Battle of Ctesiphon in November 1915, the furthest up the Tigris River that the 6th Division would advance.

After Ctesiphon, General Townshend, commander of the 6th Division, ordered a retreat back down the Tigris. Ottoman forces pursued the division to Kut-al-Amara, where, on the 7th of December 1915, Townshend ordered it to dig in and await relief. Charles fell ill during the siege and was in hospital when Townsend surrendered on the 29th of April 1916.

Captured as a Prisoner of War by the Ottoman Army (Turkish).

10,061 troops and 3,248 followers were taken captive when the British surrendered at Kut and conducted a forced march back to Anatolia. The suffering of the enlisted soldiers was particularly egregious, and over 4,000 died in captivity.

Charles transported upriver to Baghdad by steamship, where he remained in hospital, unable to travel as the survivors of the 6th Division were marched north toward Anatolia. When Charles was well enough to travel, he followed the same route north. As he was a General, Charles was allowed a traveling party and better than average supplies. Along the way, they encountered dead and dying enlisted men who had fallen behind one of the columns of British and Indian prisoners. Charles took any survivors he found with him and at each stop he insisted that the men he had rescued from the desert be put into hospital.

Charles remained a Prisoner of War for two and a half years at Broussa in northwestern Anatolia. While there, he repeatedly wrote letters to Enver Pasha (Leader of the Ottoman Empire) detailing the sad state of the enlisted prisoners and demanding better treatment.

Mentioned In Despatches for services in connection with the operations in Mesopotamia from the 6th of November 1914 until the 14th of April 1915. Published in the London Gazette on the 4th of April 1916. Supplement 29536, Page 3668.

Mentioned In Despatches. Published in the London Gazette on the 20th of June 1916. Supplement 29632, Page 6174.

Attached as Brigade-Commander to Head Quarters Units, Staff and Commands, on the 29th of June 1916. Published in the London Gazette on the 27th of April 1920. Supplement 31882, Page 4969.

Awarded for services rendered in connection with Military operations in Mesopotamia, Knight Commander of the said Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George (K.C.M.G.) on the 23rd of August 1917. Published in the London Gazette on the 20th of August 1918. Supplement 30859, Page 9817.

Charles retired from Military Service as Major-General, Indian Army on the 24th of February 1920. Published in the London Gazette on the 16th of April 1920. Issue 31867, Page 4478.

Appointed as Colonel 53rd Sikhs (Frontier Force) on the 31st of May 1921. Published in the London Gazette on the 31st of May 1921. Issue 32339, Page 4302.

Awarded the French Croix de Guerre (Cross of War) 1914 - 1918. Published in the Edinburgh Gazette on the 10th of February 1922. Issue 13786, Page 265.

Living at Five Trees, Tekels Avenue, Camberley, Surrey, from 1926.

Charles died on the 6th of June 1936, aged 73.

Buried at St. Peter's, Frimley, Surrey, on the 9th of June 1936.

Charles' Victoria Cross is held by Wellington College.

Following his retirement, Arthur enjoyed watching cricket, and racquet sports and he resided for several years at Sherborne House, Camberley, Surrey, where he took a great interest in local matters

Living at Sherborne, Park Road, Camberley, Surrey, in the 1901 census. Arthur aged 57 is Colonel Indian Staff Corps.

Awarded in the New Year's honours list as Knight Commander, The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (K.C.B.) on the 1st of January 1903. Published in the London Gazette on the 30th of December 1902. Supplement 27511, Page 4.

Living at Sherborne House, Gordon Cresent, Camberley, Surrey, in the 1911 census. Arthur now aged 67 is a retired Colonel of the Indian Army living with his wife and daughters.

Arthur died on the 20th of April 1919, aged 75. his health was failing him for some little time, and he died on Easter Sunday, having never completely recovered from a severe operation which he had to undergo.

Buried at St. Michael's, Yorktown, Camberley, Surrey, on the 23rd of April 1919.

Arthur's Victoria Cross is held by Lord Ashcroft and is on display at the Lord Ashcroft Gallery, Imperial War Museum, London.

Archie Cecil Thomas White V.C M.C. 1890 - 1971;

Born on the 5th of October at Boroughbridge, Yorkshire.

Living at Norwood House, Langthorpe, Yorkshire, 1890. Archie's father had a gentlemen’s outfitters shop in the town.

Educated at Harrogate Grammar School, Harrogate, Yorkshire. Archie was classmate with Donald Bell V.C.

Awarded a scholarship to study English Literature.

Educated at King's College, London, studying English Literature.

Living at Horsefair, Boroughbridge, Yorkshire, in the 1911 census. Archie aged 19 is a University Student.

Archie graduated from King's College, London, in 1912.

Archie worked as a Teacher at Westminster School, London.

Commissioned as a Temporary 2nd Lieutenant on the 12th of September 1914. Published in the London Gazette on the 11th of September 1914. Issue 28899, Page 7223.

Appointed as Temporary Lieutenant 6th Yorkshire Regiment on the 10th of December 1914.

Appointed as Temporary Captain 6th Yorkshire Regiment on the 1st of July 1915.

Embarked at Liverpool, on the 3rd of July 1915

Posted to Gallipoli, Turkey.

The 6th East Yorkshires landed at Sulva Bay, Gallipoli in the early hours of the 7th of August 1915, with 22 Officers and 750 other ranks. (Three Officers and 153 men had been left in reserve at Imbros).

Wounded In Action on the 21st of August 1915.

Evacuated to Egypt, due to wounds received.

Posted to France and Flanders, July 1916.

During the period 21st of September to the 1st of October 1916 at Stuff Redoubt, France, Captain White was in command of the troops which held the southern and western faces of a redoubt. For four days and nights by skilful disposition he held the position under heavy fire of all kinds and against several counterattacks. Although short of supplies and ammunition, his determination never wavered and when the enemy attacked in greatly superior numbers and had almost ejected our troops from the redoubt, he personally led a counter-attack which finally cleared the enemy out of the southern and western faces.

As a result of the award of his VC, he was made a Fellow of King’s College London in 1917.

Archie was presented his Victoria Cross by King George V at Hyde Park on the 2nd of June 1917.

Appointed as a GSO3 (General Staff Officer Grade 3) from the 30th June.

Appointed as Brigade Major to Brigadier General J.V. Campbell, Commander of 137th Brigade from March until October 1918.

Awarded the Military Cross for service in France and Flanders on the 3rd of June 1918.

Promoted to Captain, May 1919.

Appointed as Brigade Major in the Archangel Relief Force on 29th May 1919.

Archie married Jeanie Georgina Will on the 14th of June 1920. Jeanie was a teacher and governess from Scotland. They went on to have three daughters.

Relinquished his commission on the 13th of November 1920.

Appointed as Organiser to the Federation of British Industry in 1920 but was soon back in uniform.

Appointed as Major in the Army Educational Corps on 25th November 1920.

Appointed as GSO2 (General Staff Officer Grade 2) Instructor at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst from 1921-1925.

Appointed as Commandant of Queen Victoria’s School, Dunblane, Scotland until the 28th of August 1929.

Appointed as Senior Army Education Centre Instructor at the Royal Military Academy from August 1929 until February 1933.

During World War II, he was appointed to Command Education Officer Home Forces from November 1940 to August 1943. He served in South East Asia before retiring as Honorary Colonel in November 1947.

He became Principal of the City Literary Institute from 1948-1956 and returned to give classes after his retirement.

Appointed as Deputy Colonel Commandant, Royal Army Educational Corps from 1960-1969.

In 1966, he was one of 12 Victoria Cross holders who took part in the 50th anniversary commemoration of the Battle of the Somme.

Archie died at his home “Brucklay”, Camberley, Surrey on 20th May 1971 and was cremated at St John’s Crematorium, Woking. His ashes were scattered in Tennyson Lake Garden and his name was listed in Bay 19/173.

In addition to his VC and MC, he was awarded the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal 1914-20, Victory Medal 1914-19 with Mentioned in Despatches oakleaf, 1939-45 Star France and Germany Star, Defence Medal 1939-45, War Medal 1939-45 with Mentioned in Despatches oakleaf, George V Silver Jubilee Medal 1935, George VI Coronation Medal 1937 and Elizabeth II Coronation Medal 1953.

The VC is owned privately but is on loan to the Green Howards Museum, Richmond, Yorkshire.

Lest We Forget.

Lee Thomas October 2020