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The Graveyards of Gallipoli; A Digger History Associate Site |
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A Tribute to the Men of all the Nations that took part in the Gallipoli Campaign of 1915 |
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British VC Winners, Gallipoli Campaign: A to J |
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Index to VC winners on THIS page |
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Note the naval blue VC ribbon. Educated at Cheltenham College, he was 32 years old, and a Lieutenant-Commander in the Royal Navy during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. |
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27 April 1915 in the Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles, Turkey,
Lieutenant-Commander Boyle, in command of submarine E14,
dived his vessel under the enemy minefields and in spite of great
navigational difficulties from strong currents and the presence of
hostile patrols waiting to attack, he continued, during the next two
weeks, to operate in the narrow waters of the straits and succeeded in
sinking two Turkish gunboats and one military transport. Boyle made at
least two more tours of the Sea of Marmara aboard E14 during the
Battle of Gallipoli. He later achieved the rank of Rear-Admiral.
His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum (Gosport, Hampshire, England). |
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Bromley was
reported to be an enthusiastic athlete but an indifferent student, so
his original plans to pursue a career in either medicine or the civil
service were out.
Instead he joined the Army, gaining a commission in the 1st Battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers after a stint in the 3rd King’s Liverpool Regiment, a militia unit. He saw service in West Africa and India, where, under his leadership as adjutant the battalion won a number of Army championships in football, boxing, and cross-country running. Bromley was awarded the V.C. for action during the landings at W Beach during the Gallipoli Campaign, April 25, 1915, one of the group known in the press as “The Six V.C.s Before Breakfast (the others were Capt. R.R. Willis; Sgts. A. Richards and F.E. Stubbs; L/Cpl. Grimshaw; and Pvt. W. Kennealy). |
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citation read: “On the 25th April, 1915, headquarters and three
companies of the 1st Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers in effecting a
landing on the Gallipoli Peninsula to the West of Cape Helles, were met
by very deadly fire from hidden machine guns, which caused a great
number of casualties. The survivors, however, rushed up to and cut the
wire entanglements, notwithstanding the terrific fire from the enemy,
and after overcoming supreme difficulties, the cliffs were gained and
the position maintained.
Amongst the many very gallant officers and men engaged in this most hazardous undertaking, Captain Bromley, Serjeant Stubbs, and Corporal Grimshaw have been selected by their comrades as having performed the most single acts of bravery and devotion to duty.” (The citation for Bromley, Stubbs, and Grimshaw was not issued until March 15, 1917, due to War Office regulations and red tape; the citation for Willis, Richards, and Kennealy, worded identically, had been issued on August 23, 1915.) Bromley injured his back in the action
at W Beach but did not seek medical attention until wounded by a bullet
in the knee on April 28. He was wounded again while in temporary command
of the 1st Battalion (with promotion to Major) during the Battle of
Gully Ravine on June 28. This time he was evacuated to Egypt to recover,
and in August begged his way aboard the troopship Royal Edward to return
to the Gallipoli peninsula. The ship never arrived. It was torpedoed and
sunk by the UB-14 on August 13, 1915, with the loss of 866 lives, among
them Bromley. His body was never recovered. His V.C. medal is privately
held. (bio by: Paul F. Wilson)
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William
Cosgrove VC, MSM was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross. He was 26
years old, and a Corporal in the 1st Bn., The Royal Munster Fusiliers,
British Army during the First World War when the following deed took
place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 26 April 1915, east of Cape Helles, Gallipoli, Turkey, Corporal Cosgrove led his section during the attack on the Turkish position. The corporal pulled down the posts of the enemy's high wire entanglements single-handed, notwithstanding the terrific fire from both front and flanks. This action greatly assisted in the successful clearing of the heights. He later achieved the rank of Staff-Sergeant. |
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Charles
Hotham Montagu "Dick" Doughty-Wylie
VC, CB, CMG was an English recipient of 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.
Colonel Doughty-Wylie was the British consul in Mersina, Turkey, during the Turkish revolution of 1909. Richard Bell-Davies (later a VC winner, then a lieutenant on the battleship HMS Swiftsure) met him at the time and gives an account in his autobiography Sailor in the Air (1967). Massacres of Armenians started along with the revolution, and Bell-Davies says that it was largely due to the efforts of Doughty-Wylie that these were halted in Mersina. |
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then went to Adana, forty miles away. He persuaded the local Vali
(Governor) to give him a small escort of Turkish troops and a bugler
and with these managed to restore order. Mrs. Doughty-Wylie turned
part of the dragoman's house into a hospital for wounded Armenians.
Bell Davies says that by the time an armed party from Swiftsure
arrived, Doughty-Wylie had again almost stopped the massacre
single-handed.
Doughty-Wylie was 46 years old, and a Lieutenant Colonel in The Royal Welch Fusiliers, British Army when, "owing to his great knowledge of things Turkish" according to Bell-Davies, he was attached to General Sir Ian Hamilton's headquarters staff of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force during the Battle of Gallipoli. On 26 April 1915, following the landing at Cape Helles on the Gallipoli peninsula, during which the brigadier general and the brigade major had been killed, Lieutenant Colonel Doughty-Wylie and another officer (Garth Neville Walford VC) organised and made an attack through and on both sides of the village of Sedd-el-Bahr on the Old Fort at the top of the hill. The enemy's position was very strongly entrenched and defended, but mainly due to the initiative, skill and great gallantry of the two officers the attack was a complete success. Both were killed in the moment of victory. Doughty-Wylie is buried close to
where he was killed. His grave is the only solitary British or
Commonwealth war grave on the Gallipoli peninsula. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum (Caernarfon Castle, Gwynedd, Wales). Partly from Wikipedia. |
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for
his gravesite |
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| George
Leslie Drewry was 20 years old, and a Midshipman in the Royal Naval
Reserve during the First World War when the following action took place
for which he was awarded the VC.
On 25 April 1915 during the landing at V Beach, Cape Helles, Gallipoli, Turkey, Midshipman Drewry and three others (Wilfred St. Aubyn Malleson, George McKenzie Samson, William Charles Williams) of HMS River Clyde, assisted the commander of the ship (Edward Unwin) at the work of securing the lighters under a very heavy rifle and Maxim fire. He was wounded in the head, but continued his work and twice subsequently attempted to swim from lighter to lighter with a line. He later achieved the rank of Lieutenant and was killed in action, Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands, on 3 August 1918. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Imperial War Museum (London, England). |
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| ...the utmost disregard to danger, ... casually lighting bomb fuses with his cigarette, and personally throwing them continuously for forty one hours... |
A "Blue Plaque" to commemorate the life of William Forshaw is sited on the entrance to Ladysmith Barracks. |
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was 25 years old, and a Lieutenant in the 1Bn. the 9th Manchester
Regiment, British Army during the First World War when the following
action took place for which he was awarded the VC.
During the period 7/9 August 1915 in Gallipoli, Turkey, when holding the north-west corner of "The Vineyard" against heavy attacks by the Turks, Lieutenant Forshaw not only directed his men but personally threw bombs continuously for over 40 hours. When his detachment was relieved, he volunteered to continue directing the defence. Later, when the Turks captured a portion of the trench, he shot three of them and recaptured it. It was due to his fine example and magnificent courage that this very important position was held. He later achieved the rank of Major. Grave/memorial at Touchen End Cemetery, Bray, near Maidenhead, England. Headstone (for many years grave unmarked - new stone erected 1994, not on exact site). The citation reads as follows :
Many of the bombs Forshaw threw were made from jam tins by him and his men.
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John
Elisha Grimshaw was 22 years old, and a Corporal in the 1st Bn.,
Lancashire Fusiliers, British Army during the First World War when the
following action took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 25 April 1915 west of Cape Helles, Gallipoli, Turkey, three companies and the Headquarters of the 1st Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers, when landing on W Beach, were met by a very deadly fire from hidden machine-guns which caused a large number of casualties. The survivors, however, rushed up and cut the wire entanglements notwithstanding the terrific fire from the enemy and after overcoming supreme difficulties, the cliffs were gained and the position maintained. See also Cuthbert Bromley, William Keneally, Alfred Joseph Richards, Frank Edward Stubbs and Richard Raymond Willis |
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Corporal Grimshaw was one of the six members of the regiment elected for the award. He later achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
John Elisha Grimshaw was born on the 23rd January 1893 at Abram near Wigan Lancs. He was a miner in Wigan Colliery and enlisted into the Lancashire Fusiliers in 1912,he was then 19 years old. He was first posted to India, and by the time of the Lancashire Landings at W beach Gallipoli, he was a L/Cpl signaller in C Coy. His role was to maintain contact between the HQ on board HMS Euryalus and the Units on the ground. ....During the furious fighting on the beach and for hill 114,C Company was reduced to 4 Officers and 83 men. Among the survivors was L/Cpl Grimshaw. His pack and water bottle were riddled by bullets and his cap badge was smashed by a bullet, but by a miracle he was unharmed. He had remained calm and cheerful throughout the ordeal and frequently braved intense close range enemy fire to get his signals through.
....Following furious questions in the Houses of Parliament as to why bureaucracy should be more important than bravery, the rules were changed and all the nominated 6 were eventually awarded the Victoria Cross. ....Grimshaw had suffered frostbite at Gallipoli and following recuperation he was posted to Hull in 1916 as a Sergeant instructor. He then went to France with the LFs and was commissioned in the field. In 1918 he served with the 1/75th Carnatic Infantry in India and rejoined the LFs in 1921. Various postings and promotions followed, culminating in him being Chief Recruiting Officer in Northumberland and later in East Anglia as Lt Colonel. He died on the 20th July 1980. |
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Captain (Brigadier) Percy Howard
HANSEN, VC DSO & bar MC CdeG (Fr) |
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| Percy
Howard Hansen VC, DSO, MC, Croix de Guerre (France)) (26 October 1890
– 12 February 1951) was a Danish recipient of the Victoria Cross. He
is buried at the Garnisons Kirkegard Cemetery, Copenhagen.
He was 24 years old, and a Captain in the 6th Bn., The Lincolnshire Regiment, British Army during the First World War when the following action took place for which he was awarded the VC. On 9 August 1915 at Yilghin Bumu, Gallipoli, Turkey, Captain Hansen's battalion was forced to retire leaving some wounded behind, owing to the intense heat from the scrub which had been set on fire. After the retirement Captain Hansen, with three or four volunteers dashed forward several times over 300-400 yards of open scrub, under a terrific fire and succeeded in rescuing six wounded men from inevitable death by burning. He served in Second World War. He later achieved the rank of Brigadier.
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| Norman
Douglas Holbrook (born 9 July
1888 Southsea, Hampshire; died Midhurst,
Sussex 3 July 1976)
He was 26 years old, and a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy during the First World War when the following action took place for which he was awarded the VC. On 13 December 1914 in the Dardanelles, Turkey, Lieutenant Holbrook was in command of the Submarine B11, an old and obsolete craft built in 1905. Notwithstanding the difficulties of a treacherous current in the Straits, he dived under five rows of mines and torpedoed and sank the Turkish battleship Mesudiye, which was guarding the mine-field. He then succeeded in bringing the B11 back to the Mediterranean, in spite of being attacked by gun fire and torpedo boats. When they got back to safety the B11 had been submerged for 9 hours. He later achieved the rank of Commander. Holbrook is probably the only VC recipient to have a town (and until May 2004) a local government area named for him. On 24 August 1915 amid a wave of anti-German feeling related to the First World War the name of the New South Wales Eastern Riverina (Australia) town of Germanton was changed to Holbrook to honour the recent VC recipient. He subsequently visited the town on three occasions. His widow, Mrs Gundula Holbrook, donated his medal to the Council of the Shire of Holbrook in 1982 and subsequently made a substantial donation to the establishment of a submariners' memorial on the town in 1995 and in 1997 visited the town to unveil it.
A bronze statue of Lt. Holbrook stands in Germanton Park, Holbrook. Holbrook's medal was donated to the Council of the Shire of Holbrook, New South Wales in 1982. It subsequently passed to Greater Hume Shire Council upon the amalgamation of several Riverina shires in May 2004. It is not on public display. Replicas may be seen at the Woolpack Museum, Holbrook and at Holbrook Returned Servicemen's Club.
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He
was 26 years old, and a Second Lieutenant in the 4th Bn., The
Worcestershire Regiment, British Army during the First World War when
the following action took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 28 June 1915 in the southern zone of Gallipoli, when the advance of part of the regiment had been checked, Second-Lieutenant James, from a neighbouring unit, gathered together a body of men and led them forward under heavy fire. He then returned, organised a second party and again advanced, putting fresh life into the attack. On 3 July he headed a party of bomb throwers up a Turkish communication trench and when all his party had been killed or wounded, he remained alone, under murderous fire and kept back the enemy until a barrier had been built behind him and the trench secured. He was later promoted to Major. |
