Harry Daniels (British Army officer)
Harry Daniels | |
---|---|
File:VCHarryDaniels.jpg | |
Born | 13 December 1884 Wymondham, Norfolk |
Died | 13 December 1953 (aged 69) Leeds, West Yorkshire |
Buried | Lawnswood Crematorium, Leeds |
Allegiance | ![]() |
Service/ | ![]() |
Rank | Lieutenant-Colonel |
Unit | The Rifle Brigade |
Battles/wars | World War I World War II |
Awards | Victoria Cross Military Cross |
Lieutenant-Colonel Harry Daniels VC MC (13 December 1884 – 13 December 1953) 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.
Harry Daniels was the 13th child of baker in Wymondham, Norfolk. He joined the army at a young age and served abroad in India.
He was 30 years old, and a Company Sergeant-Major in the 2nd Battalion of The Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own), British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 12 March 1915 at Neuve Chapelle, France, his unit was ordered into an advance on the German trenches across no-man's land which was covered by machine guns and strewn with barbed wire. Daniels and another man, Cecil Reginald Noble, voluntarily rushed in front with cutters and attacked the wires They were both wounded at once, Noble dying later of his wounds.
For further activities on the Western Front he was awarded the Military Cross and later achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel.
His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Royal Green Jackets Museum at Winchester, England.
A road is named for him in his home town, Wymondham.[1]
References
- Profile
- Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
- The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
- VCs of the First World War - The Western Front 1915 (Peter F. Batchelor & Christopher Matson, 1999)
External links
- Location of grave and VC medal (West Yorkshire)
- Lieutenant Colonel Harry Daniels, VC MC (uniform memorabilia photo)
- Use dmy dates from April 2012
- 1884 births
- 1953 deaths
- British World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross
- British Army personnel of World War I
- British Army personnel of World War II
- Recipients of the Military Cross
- Rifle Brigade officers
- Rifle Brigade soldiers
- People from Wymondham
- British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross
- British Army personnel stubs