Willward Alexander Sandys-Clarke
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Willward Alexander Sandys-Clarke
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 8 June 1919 Southport, Lancashire |
| Died | 23 April 1943 Guiriat El Atach, Tunisia |
| Buried |
Massicault War Cemetery
|
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ |
 British Army |
| Rank | Lieutenant |
| Unit | Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) |
| Battles/wars | World War II † |
| Awards | Victoria Cross |
| Relations | Peter Sandys-Clarke (grandson) |
Willward Alexander Sandys-Clarke VC (8 June 1919 – 23 April 1943) 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.
Background
He was born in Southport,[1][2] and was educated at Uppingham School. He married Dorothy Irene Deakin at the United Reformed Church in Belmont, Lancashire in 1941,[3] and they lived in Egerton, near Bolton.
Details
Sandys-Clarke was a 23-year-old lieutenant in the 1st Battalion, Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire), British Army during the Second World War when he was awarded the VC.
On 23 April 1943 at Guiriat El Atach, Tunisia, Lieutenant Clarke's company was counter-attacked and almost wiped out, he being the sole remaining officer. Although wounded in the head, he gathered a composite platoon together and advancing to attack the position again met heavy fire from a machine-gun post. He manoeuvred his men to give covering fire and then tackled the post single-handed, killing or capturing the crew and knocking out the gun. He dealt similarly with two other posts and then led his platoon to the objective, but was killed when he later went forward to tackle two sniper posts single-handed.[4]
Further information
Sandys-Clarke was related to four other recipients of the award:
- Gen. Walter Congreve (Colenso)
- Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts (Khudaganj)
- Lt. Frederick Roberts (Colenso)
- Maj. William La Touche Congreve (Somme)
The medal is retained by his family and is not on public display.
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
- ↑ Find-A-Grave profile for Willward Alexander Sandys-Clarke. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
- ↑ Lancashire BMD. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 36071. p. 2937. 25 June 1943. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
- British VCs of World War 2 (John Laffin, 1997)
- Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
- The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
External links
- Use dmy dates from April 2012
- 1919 births
- 1943 deaths
- People from Southport
- Loyal Regiment officers
- British Army personnel of World War II
- British World War II recipients of the Victoria Cross
- British military personnel killed in World War II
- People educated at Uppingham School
- British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross
