VCs of the First World War: The Naval VCs

VCs of the First World War: The Naval VCs PDF Author: Stephen Snelling
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0750951974
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 472

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Book Description
The Naval VCs is a complete record of almost fifty men who won the Victoria Cross while serving in the Royal Navy during the First World War. They include the conflict's youngest and oldest winners in operations ranging from the Atlantic to the coast of Africa and from the Straits of Otranto to the rivers of Mesopotamia. These awards were won aboard all manner of fighting ships, from disguised schooner to light cruiser, from motor launch to submarine and from river steamer to battle cruiser. This book charts the lives and careers of the VC recipients and presents graphic accounts of their award-winning actions based on original material, much of it from eyewitness sources.

VCs of the First World War: The Naval VCs

VCs of the First World War: The Naval VCs PDF Author: Stephen Snelling
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0750951974
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 472

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Naval VCs is a complete record of almost fifty men who won the Victoria Cross while serving in the Royal Navy during the First World War. They include the conflict's youngest and oldest winners in operations ranging from the Atlantic to the coast of Africa and from the Straits of Otranto to the rivers of Mesopotamia. These awards were won aboard all manner of fighting ships, from disguised schooner to light cruiser, from motor launch to submarine and from river steamer to battle cruiser. This book charts the lives and careers of the VC recipients and presents graphic accounts of their award-winning actions based on original material, much of it from eyewitness sources.

VCs of the First World War: The Air VCs

VCs of the First World War: The Air VCs PDF Author: Peter G. Cooksley
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752493922
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 326

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Book Description
Of more than 600 Victoria Crosses awarded to British and Empire servicemen during the First World War, nineteen were awarded to airmen of the newly formed Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service. Of these, four were posthumous awards and all but one of the total were to officers. Some of these valorous airmen were from humble backgrounds and with limited education; others were collegiate men from wealthy families. But in the words of one senior officer they all had in common 'the guts of a lion'. Each VS winner's act of bravery is recorded here in intricate detail, along with their backgrounds and their lives after the war.

Liverpool VCs

Liverpool VCs PDF Author: James Murphy
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1844686426
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 469

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Book Description
In Liverpool local heroes tend to be drawn from football or the music business or from the period when the city was one of Britains greatest ports. Although it has produced many military heroes, only double VC winner Noel Chavasse has had the recognition he deserves. James Murphy, in this meticulously researched and sympathetically written book, sets the record straight. His biographies of twenty-three Liverpool VC winners show what extraordinary sacrifices the men of the city made when they were called on to fight for their country. He gives graphic accounts of the exploits that won them the VC, and he recalls other actions in which they were involved. His main purpose is to show these men at war, but he also provides an insight into their civilian lives, and he records the times they lived in. And he dispels the myths and corrects the errors of fact that have grown up around them.

The Desert VCs

The Desert VCs PDF Author: Brian Best
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1526721074
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description
It was not just the searing heat of the day, hot enough to boil an egg on the bonnet of a lorry, or the sand that nestled in every crevice of the body, or the shivering cold of the starlit nights, that the British and Commonwealth troops had to battle in the North African desert it was also the tough and determined Axis forces under their brilliant leader, Erwin Rommel.The actions which resulted in the awarding of twenty-nine VCs in the Desert War included that of stretcher bearer Private Anderson walking alone into the gunfire of the enemy to rescue wounded comrades, not once, but time and time again until he too was shot and killed. Lieutenant George Gunn, who, at Sidi Rezegh, found his troop of the Royal Horse Artillery facing the onslaught of sixty German tanks. One by one the guns were put out of action, the crews killed or wounded. Eventually, only one gun was left, manned by the twenty-nine-year-old lieutenant and his sergeant. Regardless of the odds, Gunn fought on until he too was killed, shot through the head.The fighting in North Africa was not just in the harsh extremes of the rolling desert, but also the barren mountains of Tunisia, and the coastal strips of Libya. In every battle, every maneuver, the terrain was the limiting or enabling feature and it was over that unforgiving ground that twenty-nine men distinguished themselves and were awarded the highest of all gallantry medals, the Victoria Cross.

VCs of the Second World War

VCs of the Second World War PDF Author: Stephen Wynn
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
ISBN: 1526725819
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 191

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Book Description
Dramatic accounts of ten Victoria Cross recipients and what they did to earn this highest of honors during WWII. During the Second World War, the Victoria Cross—the highest honor to be given to British or Commonwealth forces—was awarded on 182 occasions to 181 recipients, 85 of which were bestowed posthumously. Presented here are ten examples of those who showed the utmost gallantry and bravery “in the presence of the enemy,” with each individual case and the circumstances in which the award was won examined in close detail. One example is the story of Charles Upham, 2nd Division, New Zealand Expedition Force, who was the only recipient of two Victoria Crosses: the first awarded during the Battle of Crete in 1941, and the second during fighting at El Ruweisat Ridge, Egypt, in 1942. Others include Premindra Singh Bhagat of the Indian Army, who rapidly cleared fifteen minefields despite close enemy fire and personal injury, and RAF pilot Leonard Cheshire, who received the honor after his fourth tour of duty. These and other rousing and dramatic stories are true profiles in courage.

Kent VCs

Kent VCs PDF Author: Roy Ingleton
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1844685209
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
As one might expect from a county with the motto 'Invicta' (Unconquered), Kent has produced her fair share of military heroes. Here Roy Ingleton honors 50 of those who have been awarded the nation's highest decoration for valor in the line of duty.The book is divided into sections according to the conflicts in which the awards were earned, each beginning with a concise historical overview to set the context for these acts of heroism. From the Crimea (thus some of the earliest VCs ever awarded), through to the Second World War, the entries encompass many of the most famous episodes in British military history and are drawn from all three services. Meet heroes such as Sergeant Major Wooden of the 17th Lancers and surgeon Sir James Mouat who were granted VCs for their part in the Charge of the Light Brigade (Battle of Balaclava, 1857); Captain Walter Norris Congreve who helped to save the guns at Colenso (1899); Lieutenant Philip Neame, scion of Kent's famous brewing family and the only man to win both an Olympic gold medal and a VC (Neuve Chapelle, 1914); Major James McCudden, the leading British fighter ace of WWI and probably Kent's most famous VC winner (France1917/18); Lieutenant Commander George Bradford RN (Zeebrugge Raid, 1918); Sergeant Thomas Durrant, No 1 Commando (St Nazaire, 1942) and Lance Corporal John Harman (Battle of Kohima, 1944). The nation holds a special place in its heart for winners of the Victoria Cross and this book is sure to inspire not only those who are lucky enough to call Kent home, but anyone interested in British military history.

VCs of the North

VCs of the North PDF Author: Alan Whitworth
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473848229
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description
Today the Victoria Cross remains the supreme British award for bravery. It takes precedence over all other awards and decorations. During its 160-year history, since the first medals were given for gallantry during the Crimean War in the 1850s, 1,357 of these medals have been won, and almost fifty of them have gone to the soldiers of Cumbria, Durham and Northumberland . Alan Whitworth, in this carefully researched and revealing account, describes in graphic detail the exploits and the lives of this elite band of heroes. Within this group of Northern VC recipients are a number of outstanding names, including Richard Annand who gained the first VC of the Second World War and Roland Bradford who was one of only four sets of brothers to have secured the VC. He also had the distinction of becoming the youngest general in the British army. But among the roll of the brave whose gallantry and self-sacrifice are celebrated in these pages the reader will find the names and extraordinary deeds of many other men who were either born or bred or lived and died in the North. They will also find the story of the youngest Victoria Cross recipient who won his award aged just nineteen. The stories of these ordinary individuals who have 'performed some signal act of valour or devotion to their country' will be fascinating reading for anyone who is interested in military history in general and in the long military tradition of the North of England.

VCs Gallipoli

VCs Gallipoli PDF Author: Stephen Snelling
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752487523
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
The landings on the Gallipoli Peninsula on 25 April 1915 represented the greatest amphibious operation carried out during the course of the First World War. What had initially been a purely naval enterprise had escalated to become a full-scale Anglo-French invasion, resulting in an eight-month campaign which Churchill hoped would knock Turkey out of the war. For a campaign that promised so much, it ultimately bacame a tragedy of lost opportunities. By January 1916, when the last men were taken off the peninsula, the casualties totalled 205,000.This book contains new material from recently released archives and tells the stories of the thirty-nine men whose bravery on the battlefield was rewarded by the Victoria Cross, among them the war's first Australian VC, first New Zealand VC, and first Royal Marine VC. It represents the highest number of VCs won in a theatre of war, other than the Western Front.

The First VCs

The First VCs PDF Author: John Grehan
Publisher: Frontline Books
ISBN: 1473851726
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
Officers led and men followed; all were expected to do their duty without thought of reward. Enlisted men rarely penetrated the officer ranks and promotion owed more to money than merit. Then came the Crimean War.The incompetence and ineffectiveness of the senior officers contrasted sharply with the bravery of the lower ranks. Fuelled by the reports from the first-ever war correspondents which were read by an increasingly literate public, the mumblings of discontent rapidly grew into a national outcry. Questions were asked in Parliament, answers were demanded by the press why were the heroes of the Alma, Inkerman and the Charge of the Light Brigade not being recognised? Something had be done.That something was the introduction of an award that would be of such prestige it would be sought by all men from the private to the Field Marshal. It would be the highest possible award for valour in the face of the enemy and it bore the name of the Queen for whom the men fought.This is the story of how the first Victoria Crosses were attained in the heat of the most deadly conflict of the nineteenth century. It is also an examination of how the definition of courage, as recognised by the awarding of VCs, evolved, from saving the regimental colours at the Alma to saving a comrade in the No Mans Land before Sevastopol.

Victoria Cross Heroes

Victoria Cross Heroes PDF Author: Michael Ashcroft
Publisher: Headline
ISBN: 0755364503
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 287

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Book Description
This ebook edition contains the full text version as per the book. Doesn't include original photographic and illustrated material. VICTORIA CROSS HEROES tells the stories of over 150 individuals whose bravery has earned them the Victoria Cross, Britain's most prestigious medal for courage in action. The book is introduced by Michael Ashcroft, who owns over ten per cent of all VCs ever awarded. He explains the history of the medal and the story of his fascination with it. The main text of the book tells the stories of both those recipients whose medals are in his collection and those whose stories featured in the television series. Each chapter covers a different conflict, from the Crimean War to Iraq.