Major David Auldjo Jamieson, (1 October 1920 – 5 May 2001) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

who received the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Early life

David Auldjo Jamieson was born in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

on 1 October 1920, the elder son of Sir Archibald Auldjo Jamieson, Chairman of

Vickers Armstrong Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, wi ...

. He attended Ladycross School, Seaford, East Sussex, and

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

. In his youth he spent time at the family holiday retreat in Norfolk. He was a volunteer in the Territorial Army unit at

Dersingham Dersingham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated some north of the town of King's Lynn and north-west of the city of Norwich, opening onto The Wash.Ordnance Survey (2002). ''OS Explorer Map 250 - Norfolk ...

for the 5th Battalion,

Royal Norfolk Regiment The Royal Norfolk Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army until 1959. Its predecessor regiment was raised in 1685 as Henry Cornwall's Regiment of Foot. In 1751, it was numbered like most other British Army regiments and named ...

, which he joined in May 1939 when the Territorial Army was doubled in size. He was transferred to the 7th Battalion, formed as a 2nd Line duplicate of the 5th, and was subsequently commissioned as a second lieutenant, despite a lack of experience.

Second World War

Aged 19 on the outbreak of the

, Jamieson was considered too young for overseas service and did not initially go with the battalion, now part of the

51st (Highland) Infantry Division The 51st (Highland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought on the Western Front in France during the First World War from 1915 to 1918. The division was raised in 1908, upon the creation of the Territorial Force, as ...

, to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) when it went to France in 1940 but followed later. When the majority of the battalion was captured in June 1940 during the Fall of France he was at Rouen and was able to return to Britain. The battalion was reformed in 1941 and he was promoted to a

company commander A company commander is the commanding officer of a company, a military unit which typically consists of 100 to 250 soldiers, often organized into three or four smaller units called platoons. The exact organization of a company varies by countr ...

of D Company.

Victoria Cross

Jamieson was a 23-year-old captain in the 7th Battalion of the Royal Norfolk Regiment, now part of the 176th Infantry Brigade attached to the

59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division The 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was formed during the Second World War and fought in the Battle of Normandy. In March 1939, after Germany re-emerged as a significant military power ...

, when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the

. On 7/8 August 1944, south of

Grimbosq Grimbosq () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France.The commune is part of the area known as Suisse Normande. Population See also *Communes of the Calvados department The following is a list ...

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, France, Jamieson was in command of D Company, being the only officer remaining, which had established a bridgehead over the

River Orne The Orne () is a river in Normandy, within northwestern France. It is long. It discharges into the English Channel at the port of Ouistreham. Its source is in Aunou-sur-Orne, east of Sées. Its main tributaries are the Odon and the Rouvre. The ...

. The enemy made seven counter-attacks on the company's position, but throughout 36 hours of bitter and close fighting Captain Jamieson's company refused to give up. The attacks included assaults with

Tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on ...

and

Panther tank The Panther tank, officially ''Panzerkampfwagen V Panther'' (abbreviated PzKpfw V) with ordnance inventory designation: ''Sd.Kfz.'' 171, is a German medium tank of World War II. It was used on the Eastern and Western Fronts from mid-1943 to ...

s which shot up the Royal Norfolks' tanks. Jamieson at one point mounted a British tank to talk to the commander under enemy fire. He dismissed it as anything heroic, saying that he had to as the telephone didn't work – tanks were equipped with an external handset so that the commander could talk to an infantry commander without opening the hatch. The image of Captain Jamieson riding a

Churchill tank The Tank, Infantry, Mk IV (A22) Churchill was a British infantry tank used in the Second World War, best known for its heavy armour, large longitudinal chassis with all-around tracks with multiple bogies, its ability to climb steep slopes, a ...

while enemy tanks attacked was immortalised in a painting. The citation for Captain David Jamieson in the '' London Gazette'' of 26 October 1944 ends:

Post-war

Following the war, he worked for the Australian Agricultural Company, which ran several sheep and cattle stations; he became a director in 1949 and was Governor from 1951 to 1975. He was also director of other companies including

National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank, commonly known as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In 2000, i ...

. Due to his height, 6 ft 5, he was designated the ceremonial umbrella man to

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...

, carrying an umbrella over her at social functions. In 1948 he married Nancy Elwes, who died in a car accident in 1963. He remarried, to Joanna Windsor-Clive, in 1969. He was appointed

High Sheriff of Norfolk The high sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown and is appointed annually (in March) by the Crown. The High Sheriff of Norfolk was originally the principal law enforcement officer in Norfolk and presided at the assizes and other imp ...

in 1979. He died on 5 May 2001 in

Burnham Market Burnham Market is an English village and civil parish near the north coast of Norfolk. It is one of the Burnhams, a group of three adjacent villages that were merged: Burnham Sutton, Burnham Ulph and Burnham Westgate. In 2022, Burnham Market ...

, Norfolk, and was interred in the churchyard in Burnham Norton. He was survived by his widow, his son Andrew Jamieson, and two daughters of his first marriage, three grandchildren, and by a stepson and stepdaughter.

Medals

David Jamieson's Victoria Cross is displayed in the Royal Norfolk Regimental Museum in

Norwich Castle Norwich Castle is a medieval royal fortification in the city of Norwich, in the English county of Norfolk. William the Conqueror (1066–1087) ordered its construction in the aftermath of the Norman conquest of England. The castle was used as a ...

.Royal Norfolk Regimental Museum
/ref> Jamieson was awarded the following service and commemorative medals: * 1939–45 Star *

France and Germany Star The France and Germany Star is a military campaign medal, instituted by the United Kingdom in May 1945 for award to British Commonwealth forces who served in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands or Germany and adjacent sea areas between ...

* Defence Medal * War Medal * Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal * Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jamieson, David (VC) 1920 births 2001 deaths British Army personnel of World War II British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross British World War II recipients of the Victoria Cross Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order English people of Scottish descent High Sheriffs of Norfolk Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms People educated at Eton College People educated at Ladycross School People from Burnham Market People from Westminster Royal Norfolk Regiment officers Military personnel from London British Battle of Normandy recipients of the Victoria Cross Burials in Norfolk