Noel Godfrey Chavasse
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Noel Godfrey Chavasse (VC and bar, MC) (November 9, 1884–August 4 1917) was a British soldier who is one of only three people to be awarded a Victoria Cross twice (the others are Arthur Martin-Leake and C.H. Upham). It is interesting that there is link between the only three men to have earned a bar to their VC awards. Martin-Leake was with the 46th Field Ambulance which brought Chavasse back to Brandhoeck, and Upham was distantly related to Chavasse by marriage. He was born in Oxford and educated at Magdalen College School.
During the First World War, Chavasse was a captain with the Royal Army Medical Corps, British Army attached to the 1/10th Battalion of The King's (Liverpool Regiment)..
Chavasse's first award was for his actions on August 9 1916, at Guillemont, France when he attended to the wounded all day under heavy fire, frequently in view of the enemy, and during the night he continued searching for wounded in front of the enemy's lines. Next day, under heavy shell fire he and a stretcher bearer carried an urgent case 500 yards to safety, being wounded himself during the journey. The same night, with 20 volunteers, he rescued three wounded men from a shell-hole 36 yards from enemy trenches, buried the bodies of two officers and collected many identity discs. Altogether he saved the lives of some 20 wounded men.
Chavasse's second award was made during the period July 31 to August 2 1917, at Wieltje, Belgium. Captain Chavasse, although severely wounded early in the action while carrying a wounded officer to the dressing station, refused to leave his post and in addition to his normal duties, went out repeatedly under heavy fire to attend the wounded. During this time, although practically without food, worn with fatigue and faint from his wound, he helped to carry in badly wounded men, being instrumental in saving many who would otherwise have died under the bad weather conditions. Captain Chavasse died of his wounds in Brandhoek.
Chavasse was the son of Francis James Chavasse, Bishop of Liverpool and founder of St. Peter's College, Oxford.
His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Imperial War Museum, London.
VCNoelGodfreyChavasseMedals.jpg
Reference
- Chavasse; Double VC (Ann Clayton, 1997)
- Monuments To Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
- The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
- VCs of the First World War - Passchendaele 1917 (Stephen Snelling, 1998)
- VCs of the First World War - The Somme (Gerald Gliddon, 1994)
- Symbol of Courage:A History of the Victoria Cross (Max Arthur 2004)
External links
- Captain Noel Godfrey Chavasse, VC and Bar, MC, RAMC (http://www.chavasse.u-net.com/chavasse.html)
- Captain N.G. Chavasse (http://www.barmy.co.uk/ramc/chavasse.htm)
- News Item (http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/stewart/bbchavas.htm) (promotion mystery deepens)
This page has been migrated from the Victoria Cross Reference (http://www.victoriacross.net) with permission.
See the Victoria Cross Reference (http://www.chapter-one.com/vc/award.asp?vc=207) for more information on the VC and http://www.chavasse.u-net.com/chavasse.html for a detailed biography.