Four Victoria Cross obituaries: four Victoria Cross recipients passed away between November 2001 and February 2002.

Sir Roden Cutler VC AK KCMG KCVO CBE 

Lieutenant, 2/5th Australian Field Regiment, 7th Australian Division 19 June to 6 July 1941, at Merdjayoun-Damour area, Lebanon.

CITATION: For most conspicuous and sustained gallantry during the Syrian Campaign and for outstanding bravery during the bitter fighting at Merdjayoun when this artillery officer became a byword amongst forward troops with which he worked. At Merdjayoun on 19th June, 1941, our infantry attack was checked after suffering heavy casualties from an enemy counter-attack with tanks. Enemy machine gun fire swept the ground, but Lieutenant Cutler with another artillery officer and a small party pushed on ahead of the infantry and established an outpost in a house. The telephone line was cut and he went out and mended this line under machine gun fire and returned to the house, from which enemy posts and batteries were successfully engaged. The enemy then attacked this outpost with infantry and tanks, killing the Bren gunner and mortally wounding other officers. Lieutenant Cutler and another manned the anti-tank rifle and Bren gun and fought back, driving the enemy infantry away. The tanks continued the attack, but under constant fire from the anti-tank rife and Bren gun eventually withdrew. Lieutenant Cutler then personally supervised the evacuation of the wounded members of his party. Undaunted he pressed for a further advance. He had been ordered to establish an outpost from which he could register the only road by which the enemy transport could enter the town. With a small party of volunteers he pressed on until finally with one other he succeeded in establishing an outpost right in the town, which was occupied by the Foreign Legion, despite enemy machine gun fire which prevented our infantry from advancing. At this time Lieutenant Cutler knew the enemy were massing on his left for a counter-attack and that he was in danger of being cut off. Nevertheless he carried out his task of registering the battery on the road and engaging enemy posts. The enemy counter-attacked with infantry and tanks and he was out off. He was forced to go to ground, but after dark succeeded in making his way through enemy lines. His work in registering the only road by which enemy transport could enter the town was of vital importance and a big factor in the enemy's subsequent retreat. On the night of 23rd-24th June he was in charge of a 25-pounder sent forward into our forward defended localities to silence an enemy anti-tank gun and post, which had held up our attack. This he did and next morning the recapture of Merdjayoun was completed. Later at Damour on 6th July, when our forward infantry were pinned to the ground by heavy hostile machine gun fire Lieutenant Cutler, regardless of all danger, went to bring a line to his outpost when he was seriously wounded. Twenty-six hours elapsed before it was possible to rescue this officer, whose wounds by this time had become septic necessitating the amputation of his leg. Throughout the campaign this officer's courage was unparalleled and his work was a big factor in the recapture of Merdjayoun. (London Gazette: 28 November 1941)

Sir Roden Cutler VC, former Governor of New South Wales who was strikingly tall and, despite his loss of a leg, had a military bearing and moustache, passed away on Thursday 21 February 2002 at the age of 85. He won the Victoria Cross while fighting against the Vichy French during the Syrian campaign in 1941.

Arthur Roden Cutler was born on 24 May 1916 at Manly, New South Wales. He was educated at Sydney High School and Sydney University, where he read Economics. He joined the Public Trust Office in 1934. He joined the Sydney University Regiment while a student and was commissioned Lieutenant in the CMF on 10 November 1940. He joined the 2nd AIF on 1 May 1940 and was posted to the 2/5th Field Regiment. He was invalided home and resigned his AIF commission in December 1941. The Governor-General Lord Gowrie VC presented the VC to him in Sydney on 11 June 1942.

Cutler first became State Secretary of the Returned Sailors', Soldiers' and Airmen's Imperial League of Australia, then became a member of the Aliens Classification and Advisory Committee. In 1943 he was appointed an assistant deputy director of the Security Service before taking the position of assistant commissioner of the Repatriation Department. Cutler was appointed Australian High Commissioner in New Zealand. He was then posted to Ceylon and was Minister to Egypt when the Suez Crisis began. He was Secretary-General to the South-East Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO) Conference of Ministers 1957 and chief of protocol at the Department of External Affairs in Canberra before being appointed High Commissioner to Pakistan and then Consul General in New York from 1961-65.

Shortly after taking up his appointment as Australian ambassador to the Netherlands the Premier of New South Wales appointed him as Governor of New South Wales. In his 15 years as Governor he popularised the institution of the governorship, without compromising its essential character. After retiring as Governor he was chairman of the State Bank of New South Wales from 1981 to 1986. He was Honorary Colonel of the Royal New South Wales Regiment, and Honorary Air Commodore of the Royal Australian Air Force and served as overseas vice-chairman of the VC and GC Association from 1986 to 1991, and deputy president from 1991.

In 1946, Cutler married Helen Morris of Sydney who died in 1990. In 1993 he married Joan Goodwin who survives as do his four sons from the first marriage.

No 4080657 Edward Thomas Chapman Corporal, 3rd Bn The Monmouthshire Regiment

CITATION: On 2 April 1945 a company of the Monmouthshire Regiment crossed the Dortmund-Ems canal and was ordered to assault the ridge of the Teutoberger Wald, which dominates the surrounding country. This ridge is steep, thickly wooded and is ideal defensive country. It was, moreover, defended by a battalion of German officer cadets and their instructors, all of them picked men and fanatical Nazis.

Corporal Chapman was advancing with his section in single file along a narrow track, when the enemy suddenly opened fire with machine-guns at short range, inflicting heavy casualties and causing some confusion. Corporal Chapman immediately ordered his section to take cover, and, seizing the Bren gun, he advanced alone, firing the gun from his hip, and mowed down the enemy at point blank range, forcing them to retire in disorder.

At this point, however, his company was ordered to withdraw; but Corporal Chapman and his section were still left in their advance position, as the order could not be got forward to them.

The enemy then began to close up to Corporal Chapman and his isolated section and, under cover of intense machine-gun fire, they made determined charges with the bayonets. Corporal Chapman again rose with his Bren gun to meet the assaults and on each occasion halted their advance.

He had now nearly run out of ammunition. Shouting to his section for more bandoliers, he dropped into a fold in the ground and covered those bringing up the ammunition by lying on his back and firing the Bren gun over his shoulder. A party of Germans made every effort eliminate him with grenades, but with a reloaded magazine, he closed with them and once again drove the enemy back with considerable casualties.

During the withdrawal of his company, the company commander had been severely wounded and left lying in the open a short distance from Corporal Chapman. Satisfied that his section was now secure, at any rate for the moment, he went out alone under withering fire and carried his company commander for 50 yards to comparative safety. On the way a sniper hit the officer again, wounding Corporal Chapman in the hip and, when he reached our lines, it was discovered that the officer had been killed.

In spite of his wounds, Corporal Chapman refused to be evacuated and went back to his company until the position was fully restored two hours later.

Throughout the action Corporal Chapman displayed outstanding gallantry and superb courage. Single-handed he repulsed the attacks of well-led, determined troops and gave his battalion time to re-organise on a vital piece of ground overlooking the only bridge across the canal. His magnificent bravery played a very large part in the capture of this vital ridge and in the successful development of subsequent operations. (The London Gazette: 13 July 1945)

Edward Chapman, who died 3 February 2002 aged 82, was awarded a VC as a corporal in the final stages of British advance into northern Germany. He was born on 13 January 1920 at Pen Y Graig, Pontlottyn, Glamorgan and educated at Fochrhiw School which he left at age 14 to work as a miner at Ogilvey Colliery at Deri like his father and grandfather before him.

On 19 April 1940 Chapman enlisted in the Monmouthshire Regiment. He landed with the 2nd Monmouths on 25 June 1944 and fought in Normandy where he was wounded in the breakout at Falaise. He then joined the 3rd Monmouths for battles in the Low Countries and North West Germany, taking part in the Rhine crossing. He was presented with his award by King George VI at Buckingham Palace on 31 July 1945.

After the war Chapman worked first for Rhyny Engineering, and then for the Great Western Railway where he was employed in track maintenance. Later he worked as a nylon spinner at Pontypool for 25 years until his retirement in 1982. In 1948 he rejoined the Territorial Army, serving until 1957, by which time he had reached the rank of Company Sergeant Major. He was awarded a British Empire Medal for his TA service.

In 1942 he married Rhoda Frances Jean Watkins, of Belfast. A modest hero, described as a "quiet family man", he died after suffering heart problems for a number of years and is survived by his wife and their three children.

Thomas William GOULD

Petty Officer, HM Submarine Thrasher 

On 16 February 1942 north of Crete, in the Mediterranean, HM Submarine Thrasher, after attacking and sinking a supply ship, was itself attacked, and later, after surfacing, two unexploded bombs were discovered in the gun-casing. The first lieutenant (P S W Roberts) and Petty Officer Gould removed the first one without too much difficulty, but the second was lying in a very confined space and they had to approach it lying full length. Petty Officer Gould then lay on his back with the bomb in his arms while the lieutenant dragged him along by the shoulders. It was 40 minutes before they got the bomb clear and dropped it over the side.

Thomas William Gould, the only Jewish Victoria Cross recipient of World War II, died on 6 December 2001 aged 86. He was born at Dover on 28 December 1914. His father, Reuben Gould, was killed in action in 1916. His mother remarried to Petty Officer Cheeseman. From St James's School, Dover, Gould joined the Royal Navy on 29 September 1933 and joined the submarines in 1937. He was rated Acting Petty Officer on 17 August 1940. Gould was mentioned in dispatches after the submarine Truculent sank U-308 off the Faroes on 4 June 1943. He was presented with his award by King George VI at Buckingham Palace in March 1943.

Gould was a quiet, conscientious man of great personal presence. Meticulous in his habits, he was always smartly dressed and in later life grew a luxuriant naval beard and moustache. He married Phyllis Eldridge in 1941 but she predeceased him and he is survived by their son.

28 Nov 2001 William REID

A/Flight Lieutenant, No.61 Squadron, RAF

On 3 November 1943 on the way to Dusseldorf, Germany, Flight Lieutenant Reid's windscreen was shattered by fire from a Messerschmitt and the gun turrets and cockpit badly damaged. Saying nothing of his multiple injuries, he continued on his mission and soon afterwards was attacked again, his navigator being killed and the wireless operator fatally wounded. He was wounded again, and also the flight engineer, while the Lancaster received more serious damage. Pressing on to his target, Flight Lieutenant Reid released his bombs, then set course for home and in spite of growing weakness from loss of blood, managed to land his crippled aircraft safely.

Flight Lieutenant William Reid, the second last surviving airman to receive the Victoria Cross, died on 29 November 2001 at the age of 79. He was born at Baillieston, Glasgow, on 12 December 1921, the son of a blacksmith. He was educated at Coatbridge Secondary School and studied metallurgy for a time, but then applied to join the RAF. After training in Canada, he received his wings and a commission in June 1942. He served as an instructor until he was sent to 1654 Conversion Unit, Wigsley, near Newark, where he flew his first operational mission as second pilot, in a Lancaster of 9 Squadron, in a raid on Munchen-Gladbach.

In September he was posted to 61 Squadron at Syerston, Newark, to commence Lancaster bombing operations, and flew seven sorties to various German cities before the raid on Dusseldorf. After a period in hospital, Reid joined 617 Squadron, the Dambusters. In July 1944 in an attack on a V-bomb storage dump near Rheims his aircraft was hit by a bomb dropped by another Lancaster 6,000 ft above. He gave the order to bail out and landed heavily by parachute breaking his arm in the fall. Within an hour he was captured by a German patrol and taken prisoner.

Reid left the RAF in 1946 and resumed his studies, first at Glasgow University and later at the West of Scotland Agricultural College. After graduating, he went on a travelling scholarship for six months, studying agriculture in India, Australia, New Zealand, America and Canada. In 1950, he became an agricultural adviser to the MacRobert Trust, Douneside. From 1959 to his retirement in 1981, he was an adviser to a firm of animal feed manufacturers. A modest man, he is survived by his wife Violet Gallagher whom he married in 1952, their son and daughter.

Living recipients

Of the 17 living recipients 14 awards were for the 1939-45 War and one each for Korea, Confrontation and Vietnam. There are six British Army living recipients including the youngest Rambahadur Limbu of the Gurkha Rifles in 1965, five for the pre Independence Indian Army, two Australians Ted Kenna and Keith Payne, and one each from the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, Canada and South Africa. The complete list of surviving recipients

1939-1945 War   Annand, Richard        British Army      1940
                  Wallace
                Bhanbhagta Gurung      Indian Army       1945
                Bhandari Ram           Indian Army       1944
                Cruickshank, John      Royal Air Force   1944
                  Alexander
                Fraser, Ian Edward     Royal Navy        1945
                Gardner, Philip John   British Army      1941
                Kenna, Edward          Australian Army   1945
                Lachhiman Gurung       Indian Army       1945
                Norton, Gerard Ross    South Africa      1944
                Smith, Ernest Alvia    Canadian Army     1944
                Tulbahadur Pun         Indian Army       1944
                Umrao Singh            Indian Army       1944
                Watkins, Sir Tasker    British Army      1944
                Wilson, Eric C T       British Army      1940
Korean War      Speakman, William      British Army      1951
Confrontation   Rambahadur Limbu       British Army      1965
Vietnam War     Payne, Keith           Australian Army   1969

1939-1945 War   Annand, Richard        France       05 Nov 1914   87.5
                  Wallace
                Bhanbhagta Gurung      Burma           Jan 1921   81.3
                Bhandari Ram           Burma        24 Jul 1919   82.8
                Cruickshank, John      North        20 May 1920   82.0
                  Alexander              Atlantic
                Fraser, Ian Edward     Singapore    18 Dec 1920   81.4
                Gardner, Philip John   Libya        25 Dec 1914   87.4
                Kenna, Edward          New Guinea   06 Jul 1919   82.9
                Lachhiman Gurung       Burma        30 Dec 1917   84.4
                Norton, Gerard Ross    Italy        07 Sep 1915   86.7
                Smith, Ernest Alvia    Italy        03 May 1914   88.1
                Tulbahadur Pun         Burma        23 Mar 1923   79.2
                Umrao Singh            Burma        11 Jul 1920   81.8
                Watkins, Sir Tasker    France       18 Nov 1918   83.5
                Wilson, Eric C T       Somaliland   02 Oct 1912   89.6
Korean War      Speakman, William      Korea        21 Sep 1927   74.7
Confrontation   Rambahadur Limbu       Sarawak      01 Aug 1939   62.8
Vietnam War     Payne, Keith           Vietnam      30 Aug 1933   68.7

ADDENDUM

Captain Bhandari Ram, 16th Battalion, 10th Baluch Regiment who was born at Gugeda, India on 24 July 1919 and awarded the Victoria Cross for his attack on a Japanese bunker at East Mayu in the Arakan province of Burma in November 1944 died at Bilaspur, India on 19 May 2002. He is survived by his wife Champa Devi and their children.