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Henry James Nicholas Tales of the V.C.

Henry James Nicholas VC MM (11 June 1891 – 23 October 1918) was a New Zealander 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. Nicholas was a 26-year-old Private in the 1st Battalion, Canterbury Regiment, New Zealand Expeditionary Force during World War I, when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC: On 3 December 1917, at Polderhoek in Belgium, Private Nicholas who was one of a Lewis Gun section, which was checked by heavy machine gun and rifle fire from an enemy strongpoint, went forward followed by the remainder of his section at an interval of about 25 yards, shot the officer in command of the position and overcame the remainder of the garrison of 16 with bombs (grenades)and bayonets, capturing four wounded prisoners and a machine gun. He captured the strongpoint practically single handed and thereby saved many casualties. Subsequently he went out and collected ammunition under heavy machine gun and rifle fire. Later promoted to Sergeant, Nicholas was unfortunately killed in action on 23 October 1918, near Vertigneul in France. He is buried in the Vertigneul Churchyard. The attached account of his actions was written by James Price Lloyd of the Welsh Regiment, who served with Military Intelligence. After the war, the government to destroyed all the archives relating to this propaganda (section MI 7b (1)). They were regarded as being too sensitive to risk being made public. Remarkably these documents have survived in the personal records of Captain Lloyd. Many of these papers are officially stamped, and one can trace the development of many individual articles from the notes based on an idea, to the pencil draft which is then followed by the hand-written submission and the typescript. The archive Tales of the VC comprises 94 individual accounts of the heroism that earned the highest award for valour, the Victoria Cross. These are recounted deferentially and economically, yet they still manage to move the reader. Date stamp: 18 January 1918.
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CONTRIBUTOR

Jeremy Arter

DATE

1917-12-03

LANGUAGE

eng

ITEMS

6

INSTITUTION

Europeana 1914-1918

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START DATE
TRANSCRIBERS
CHARACTERS
LOCATIONS
ENRICHMENTS

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METADATA

Source

UGC

Contributor

europeana19141918:agent/8d1d6eb94c917dceb7e8391761cbf75b

Date

1917-12-03

Type

Story

Language

eng
English

Country

Europe

DataProvider

Europeana 1914-1918

Provider

Europeana 1914-1918

DatasetName

2020601_Ag_ErsterWeltkrieg_EU

Begin

1917-12-03

End

1917-12-03

Language

mul

Agent

Henry James Nicholas | europeana19141918:agent/6fe3f989f49455e157b543680b9c79eb
James Price Lloyd | europeana19141918:agent/7a708291a3d2b453d7457d4b0191f092
Jeremy Arter | europeana19141918:agent/8d1d6eb94c917dceb7e8391761cbf75b

Created

2019-09-11T08:12:06.660Z
2020-02-25T08:07:07.461Z
2013-05-03 15:38:23 UTC
2013-05-06 09:57:48 UTC
2013-05-06 09:58:37 UTC
2013-05-06 09:59:24 UTC
2013-05-06 10:00:16 UTC
2013-05-06 10:00:59 UTC
2013-05-06 10:01:36 UTC

Provenance

INTERNET

Record ID

/2020601/https___1914_1918_europeana_eu_contributions_5415

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Henry Dalziel Tales of the V.C.

6 Items

Article with annotations. || Henry Dalziel VC (18 February 1893–24 July 1965) was an Australian 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. For information Dalziel's VC was the 1000th awarded. He was 25 years old, and a Driver (Private)in the 15th Battalion (Queensland & Tasmania), Australian Imperial Force during the First World War when, during the Battle of Hamel, the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. On 4 July 1918 at Hamel Wood, France, when determined resistance was coming from an enemy strongpoint which was also protected by strong wire entanglements, Private Dalziel, armed only with a revolver, attacked an enemy machine gun. He killed or captured the entire crew and, although severely wounded in the hand, carried on until the final objective was captured. He twice went over open ground under heavy artillery and machine gun fire to obtain ammunition and, suffering from loss of blood, continued to fill magazines and serve his gun until wounded in the head. The attached account of his actions was written by James Price Lloyd of the Welsh Regiment, who served with Military Intelligence. After the war, the government to destroyed all the archives relating to this propaganda (section MI 7b (1)). They were regarded as being too sensitive to risk being made public. Remarkably these documents have survived in the personal records of Captain Lloyd. Many of these papers are officially stamped, and one can trace the development of many individual articles from the notes based on an idea, to the pencil draft which is then followed by the hand-written submission and the typescript. The archive Tales of the VC comprises 94 individual accounts of the heroism that earned the highest award for valour, the Victoria Cross. These are recounted deferentially and economically, yet they still manage to move the reader. Date stamp: 22 October 1918.

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Leonard James Keyworth Tales of the V.C.

5 Items

Article with annotations. || Private L. Keyworth, 24th London Regiment (The Queen's), was awarded the V.C. for bravery on the night of the 25-26 May 1915 on the left of the La Bassee Canal near Givenchy. During the act he threw some 200 bombs! His regiment went to France on 16th March 1915 Billeted near Bethune, the battalion first went into the front line on 25th April 1915 in the Rue de l'Epinette sector, north of Festubert. In its first engagement at Aubers Ridge on 9th May the battalion suffered over 100 casualties. At 17:30 hours on 25th May 1915 the 24th Bn took over trenches just north of Givenchy in readiness for an attack later that evening. After a supporting artillery bombardment the attack began at 18:30 advancing on a stretch of the enemy line known as the 'S' Bend, the leading companies reaching its objective with few casualties. The supporting companies followed and within thirty minutes all were in the German front line but were unable to advance further as the enemy was holding the slightly higher ground to the south and from there were able to inflict heavy rifle fire on the attacking troops. The Battalion War Diary records '18:45 - 21:00 captured trench being consolidated. A severe 'bomb' (hand grenade)fight taking place all the time on the right flank'. Keyworth described how half his section were shot down by enemy machine-gun fire before reaching the German line and how all the 'bombers' had been killed except him. When his supply of grenades was exhausted, Keyworth was supplied with more by men behind him who continually implored him to lie down. For about two hours Keyworth remained on a parapet throwing some 150 grenades and although blinded with dirt he survived unscathed. The captured trench was held throughout the night and the whole of the next day, despite being under shell and rifle fire for much of the time until the battalion was relieved. The Battalion War Diary states: he most noticeable feature of the operation was the retention of the captured trench by a few exhausted, and in many cases wounded, men, after it had been subjected to a very heavy enfilade rifle fire. Keyworth was recommended for the DCM for his actions by his company commander Captain Armstrong, but was actually awarded the Victoria Cross, as published in the London Gazette on 3rd July 1915. The first Keyworth knew of his VC was when he read a newspaper containing the citation on 4th July. This account of his actions was written by James Price Lloyd of the Welsh Regiment, who served with Military Intelligence. After the war, the government to destroyed all the archives relating to this propaganda (section MI 7b (1)). They were regarded as being too sensitive to risk being made public. Remarkably these documents have survived in the personal records of Captain Lloyd. Many of these papers are officially stamped, and one can trace the development of many individual articles from the notes based on an idea, to the pencil draft which is then followed by the hand-written submission and the typescript. The archive Tales of the VC comprises 94 individual accounts of the heroism that earned the highest award for valour, the Victoria Cross. These are recounted deferentially and economically, yet they still manage to move the reader. Date stamp: 7 February 1918.

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James Edward Tait Tales of the V.C.

6 Items

James Edward Tait VC MC (27 May 1888 – 11 August 1918), was a Scottish/Canadian 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. Although Tait was born on 27 May 1888 in Maxwelltown (Dumfries), Scotland he joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force in February 1916. Tait was 32 years old, and a Lieutenant in the 78th (Winnipeg Grenadiers) Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, during the First World War. He died in action on 11 August 1918 in Amiens, France for actions on the 8th and 12th August 1018 for which he was awarded the VC. It should be noted that prior to these events he had been wounded four times. VC Citation: For most conspicuous bravery and initiative in attack. The advance having been checked by intense machine-gun fire, Lt. Tait rallied his company and led it forward with consummate skill and dash under a hail of bullets. A concealed machine gun, however, continued to cause many casualties. Taking a rifle and bayonet, Lt. Tait dashed forward alone and killed the enemy gunner. Inspired by his example his men rushed the position, capturing twelve machine guns and twenty prisoners. His valorous action cleared the way for his battalion to advance. Later, when the enemy counter-attacked our positions under intense artillery bombardment, this gallant officer displayed outstanding courage and leadership, and, though mortally wounded by a shell, continued to aid and direct his men until his death. —The London Gazette, 24 September 1918 The attached account of his actions was written by James Price Lloyd of the Welsh Regiment, who served with Military Intelligence. After the war, the government to destroyed all the archives relating to this propaganda (section MI 7b (1)). They were regarded as being too sensitive to risk being made public. Remarkably these documents have survived in the personal records of Captain Lloyd. Many of these papers are officially stamped, and one can trace the development of many individual articles from the notes based on an idea, to the pencil draft which is then followed by the hand-written submission and the typescript. The archive Tales of the VC comprises 94 individual accounts of the heroism that earned the highest award for valour, the Victoria Cross. These are recounted deferentially and economically, yet they still manage to move the reader. Date stamp: 19 November 1918. || Article with annotations.

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