Harold Whitfield
|
Harold Edward Whitfield
|
|
|---|---|
| File:VCHaroldWhitfield.jpg | |
| Born | 10 June 1886 Oswestry, Shropshire |
| Died | 19 December 1956 (aged 70) |
| Buried |
Oswestry Cemetery
|
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ |
 British Army |
| Years of service | 1908-1934 |
| Rank | Squadron Sergeant Major |
| Unit | King's Shropshire Light Infantry Shropshire Yeomanry |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
| Awards | Victoria Cross |
Harold Edward Whitfield VC (10 June 1886 – 19 December 1956) 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.
Born in Oswestry, Whitfield joined the Shropshire Yeomanry in 1908. When World War I broke out in 1914 he was mobilized spending the next two years in England. In 1916 he was shipped to Egypt, his unit becoming part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force. He was now a member of the 10th Battalion of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry as his unit had been re-designated.[1]
Whitfield was 31 years old, and a private in the 10th Battalion, The King's Shropshire Light Infantry, British Army during the First World War Battle of Tell 'Asur when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 10 March 1918 at Burj El Lisaneh, Egypt, during the first of three counter-attacks made by the enemy on the position which had just been captured by his battalion, Private Whitfield, single-handed, charged and captured a Lewis gun, killed the whole gun team and turned the gun on the enemy, driving them back with heavy casualties. Later he organised and led a bombing attack on the enemy, again inflicting many casualties and by establishing his party in their position saved many lives and materially assisted in the defeat of the counter-attack.[2]
Further information
He later achieved the rank of Squadron Sergeant Major. His medals are held by the Shropshire Regimental Museum in Shrewsbury Castle.
References
- ↑ Border Counties Advertiser
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 30675. p. 5556. 7 May 1918. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
- Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
- The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
External links
- Location of grave and VC medal (Shropshire)
- Use dmy dates from April 2012
- Pages with broken file links
- 1886 births
- 1956 deaths
- People from Oswestry
- King's Shropshire Light Infantry soldiers
- British World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross
- British Army personnel of World War I
- British Yeomanry soldiers
- Road accident deaths in England
- British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross
- Shropshire Yeomanry soldiers
