Symbol of Courage

[salientpoints]

I was at the launch of 'Symbol of Courage' the other day see photo below and have made a start into this book. It is truly amazing the stories of complete disregard for personal safety in the face of extreme danger, odds or even death.

A great read of 'boys own stories' as it were in bite-sized chunks. Fantastic!

The photo shows the daughter (in the wheelchair) of Richard Annesley West VC DSO. A/Lieutenant Colonel, The North Irish Horse (S.R.) seconded to 6th Bn., Tank Corps.

'On 21 August 1918 at Courcelles, France, during an attack, the infantry lost their bearings in dense fog and Lieutenant Colonel West at once collected any men he could find and led them to their objective, in face of heavy machine-gun fire. On 2 September at Vaulx Vraucourt, he arrived at the front line when the enemy were delivering a local counter-attack. The infantry battalion had suffered heavy officer casualties and realizing the danger if they gave way,and despite the enemy being almost upon them, Colonel West rode up and down in face of certain death, encouraging the men. He fell riddled with bullets. His magnificent bravery at a critical moment so inspired the infantry that the hostile attack was defeated.'

Sadly, born while he was overseas, she never met her father but is able to cherish his act of bravery.

Another great true story stuck in my mind from the book is of Norman Cyril Jackson RAFVR - On 26 April 1944 after bombing Schweinfurt, Germany, the Lancaster in which Sergeant Jackson was flight engineer, was hit by an enemy fighter and fire broke out. Having asked permission to try to deal with it, Sergeant Jackson clipped on his parachute but it released it inside the plane so his colleagues had to hold onto it and, with a fire extinguisher, climbed on to the fuselage of the aircraft which was travelling at about 140-160knots at 22,000ft. He tried to put out the fire, and got it under control when the German pilot spotted him on the wing. He was shot off the wing and his colleagues chucked the parachute out. He was badly burned and his partly-inflated, burning parachute was trailing behind him. He landed heavily, breaking an ankle, and was taken prisoner.

Amazing stuff!

(In April 2004 The Victoria Cross and campaign medals awarded to Norman Jackson were sold by Spink for a world record sum of £235,250 to a private buyer.

Ryan

[andigger]

Ryan,

How many of the winners were they able to compile histories for? I assume they focused on the Great War only. This would seem like a very interesting read, especially for someone who knows little about the award, but can appreciate the bravery and courage these men showed.

Andy