When the Great War broke out in August 1914 the Victoria Cross had not
been conferred for ten years. But it was not long before the newspapers
began to report one deed after another of “signal valour and devotion
performed in the presence of the enemy.”
The heroic spirit of the British Army and Navy was as strong as ever;
and, of course, the greatness of the struggle gave our men more chances
of performing deeds of heroism than they had ever had before.
During the first five months of the war, twenty-eight Crosses were
awarded; this was a large number, for the Cross is never given without
a great deal of careful consideration. One hundred were awarded during
the first eighteen months. Let us see how some of these first Crosses
were won, and how the earlier fighters set the example to all the rest.
In a military retreat or “withdrawal” it is important to place as many
obstacles as possible in the path of the foe; and as soon as bridges
have been safely crossed they must be destroyed.
It will readily be seen that the engineers who carry out this work of
destruction have a very dangerous task to perform. They are the last
men to leave the scene of action, and their destructive work holds up
the pursuit.
In an advance the engineers go first, in a retreat they stay last; so
that, on the whole, this “arm” of the forces is always in the post of
danger, which is the post of honour.
Near the end of the first month of the war, Lance-Corporal Jarvis of
the Royal Engineers won the V.C. for a piece of work which was carried
out under a persistent and steady fire. He went out alone in a boat
on the River Jemmapes, and worked steadily for an hour and a half in
fixing and firing charges for the destruction of a bridge.
The bullets whistled about his ears, and the shells burst all round him
on the bridge and below it; but the brave fellow worked coolly on until
his task was finished--and properly finished too--and then got away
unharmed. His devotion to duty had been of great value to his own side
in a way which does not need further explanation.
The L Battery of the Royal Horse Artillery is now known all over the
world for its gallant stand at the beginning of September 1914.
Field-guns and machine-guns were pounding away at this battery at
a range of no more than 600 yards. All the officers fell, dead or
wounded, and the men looked round for directions. Then Sergeant-Major
Dorrell took charge of one gun and continued to serve it steadily until
all the ammunition was used up.
Sergeant Nelson took command of another, and although severely wounded,
kept grimly to his task until the shells had all been fired, when the
shattered battery was relieved. Its steadiness had been of the greatest
use in the engagement; and the two men who had thus proved their
right to lead were not only given the V.C. but were made commissioned
officers.
About a fortnight later, Bombardier Horlock of the Royal Field
Artillery won the Cross by a wonderful display of fortitude,
persistence, and a kind of disobedience a little akin to that of Lord
Nelson at Copenhagen. His battery had not been long in action when a
shell burst under his gun and he was wounded in the right thigh. He
was told to go to the hospital, but went first to a dressing-station
where he was bandaged and sent on to the rear. But he went back to the
battery and five minutes later was hit again.
For a second time he came before the doctor, was given first-aid, and
was then placed in charge of an orderly who was told to take him to the
field-hospital farther back. On the way Horlock told his companion that
there were many poor fellows who needed help much more than he did, and
that he could find his way alone with perfect ease.
The orderly fell into the trap, and no sooner had he gone out of sight
than Horlock limped back again to his battery and went on serving his
gun. A little later, he was wounded in the arm, but, brave as he was,
did not dare to face the doctor for the third time. He stayed with his
comrades until the end of the day, and was at last picked up and taken
to hospital.
Drummer Bent of the East Lancashires was the kind of soldier who is
“good at need,” ready for any job which comes his way, and the more
dangerous the work the better worth doing. The man who brings up the
ammunition to the firing line seems to be merely a kind of porter; but
when his work is carefully considered he is easily seen to be very
important indeed. And when he does that work in the open under heavy
fire without the excitement of taking a hand in the fighting, he is
surely among the bravest of the brave. And this was the kind of work
which first drew attention to Drummer Bent, who was only twenty-two
years of age.
Having learnt that the oft-repeated sentence “every bullet has its
billet” is merely a silly saying, Bent was quite ready to face fire on
another occasion. Several wounded men were lying in the open and he
went out to bring some of them under cover. This heroic action alone
was worthy of the highest reward, for it showed that disregard of self
which is the root of all true heroism; but Bent was to do still more
than this.
One dark night in November, a portion of his regiment was holding a
certain position of some importance. The enemy made a fierce attack and
the three officers in charge were struck down. Then Bent took command
and, under his cool direction, the position was held until relief
came. The young soldier had nobly earned the Cross which he afterwards
received.
You will remember how Indian troops came to the help of Britain in the
Great War and how some of them fought very bravely in Northern France.
It is said that there was great rejoicing in India when news reached
that country that two of the native soldiers had won the Victoria Cross.
These were Naik (_i.e._ Corporal) Darwan Sing Negi and Sepoy Khudadad,
who were the first soldiers of India to receive the highest military
honour that it was in the power of their Emperor to grant.
Naik Darwan Sing Negi was in action one night in late November near
Festubert in France. Certain trenches had been taken by the enemy and
his regiment was given the task of recapturing them. This was a very
difficult piece of work, for it meant hand-to-hand bayonet fighting
in narrow passages half filled with water, where a fighter had little
elbow-room and, if he went first in an attack, could get very little
help from his comrades.
The Garhwal Rifles, to which the Corporal belonged, rushed to the
attack with fierce shouts and flashing eyes. Darwan Sing Negi was
wounded more than once, but he stuck to his work with grim valour,
fighting his way foot by foot along the narrow passages, and striking
terror into the hearts of his enemies.
When the stern work had been well done, the company fell in and it was
found that the Corporal was very badly wounded; but he received his
reward a little later at the hands of King George himself, who first
visited the British lines in December 1914.
Sepoy Khudadad was fighting in Belgium and was one of a machine-gun
section which was told off to support the 5th Lancers. The place in
which he fought was heavily bombarded by the enemy and the machine-gun
company suffered greatly. In a short time one of their two guns was put
out of action.
The six men who manned the second gun fought with splendid bravery
until the Germans rushed the position in great numbers and struck down
five of them. Sepoy Khudadad saw his chance to escape, but stayed
behind for a time in order to make his gun useless before it fell into
the hands of the enemy. Then he slipped away to a place of safety, to
the great surprise of the Germans, each of whom probably thought that
some one else had secured him! He was, however, very badly wounded;
and when King George came over to France the Indian hero was too ill
to receive at his hands the Cross which was afterwards given to him in
London.