Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Donald John Dean (19 April 1897 – 9 December 1985) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

recipient of 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 and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

forces.

Early life

Donald John Dean was born on 19 April 1897 in

Herne Hill Herne Hill is a district in South London, approximately four miles from Charing Cross and bordered by Brixton, Camberwell, Dulwich, and Tulse Hill. It sits to the north and east of Brockwell Park and straddles the boundary between the boroughs ...

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...

, to John H and Grace Dean. He was educated at Quernmore College.

Military career

First World War

At the outbreak of war, Dean attempted to enlist but was rejected because he was under-age. He was able to become a special constable and also joined the

Volunteer Training Corps The Volunteer Training Corps was a voluntary home defence reserve force in the United Kingdom during World War I. Early development After war had been declared in August 1914, there was a popular demand for a means of service for those men who wer ...

, a part-time home defence force. When he turned 18 in April 1915, he attempted to enlist again at his local

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...

depot, this time successfully. Dean served as a private with the 28th

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

(

Artists Rifles The 21 Special Air Service Regiment (Artists) (Reserve), historically known as The Artists Rifles is a regiment of the Army Reserve. Its name is abbreviated to 21 SAS(R). Raised in London in 1859 as a volunteer light infantry unit, the regimen ...

) Regiment in the Ypres Salient and during the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

. In October 1916 he was commissioned into the Royal West Kent Regiment and fought at

Vimy Ridge The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the Battle of Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais department of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in the First Army, against three divisions of ...

and around

Givenchy Givenchy (, ) is a French luxury fashion and perfume house. It hosts the brand of haute couture and ready-to-wear clothing, accessories, perfumes and cosmetics of Parfums Givenchy. The house of Givenchy was founded in 1952 by designer Hubert de ...

. He was 21 years old, and a temporary

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

in the 8th Battalion,

The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army based in the county of Kent in existence from 1881 to 1961. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, originally as the Queen' ...

, when the following action took place for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. On 15 February 1919, Dean was presented with the Victoria Cross by King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

and was given a civic reception in his home town of

Sittingbourne Sittingbourne is an industrial town in Kent, south-east England, from Canterbury and from London, beside the Roman Watling Street, an ancient British trackway used by the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons and next to the Swale, a strip of sea separa ...

.Crowdy 2010, Part II - Introduction

Interwar period

Following the war, Dean took up part-time soldiering with the Territorial Army, being appointed

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the 4th Battalion,

Royal East Kent Regiment The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), formerly the 3rd Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army traditionally raised in the English county of Kent and garrisoned at Canterbury. It had a history dating back to 1572 and ...

(The Buffs) in July 1921. He became a

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in 1930 and took command of the battalion in 1936 with the rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Second World War

After

mobilisation Mobilization is the act of assembling and readying military troops and supplies for war. The word ''mobilization'' was first used in a military context in the 1850s to describe the preparation of the Prussian Army. Mobilization theories and t ...

in 1939, Dean was informed by his divisional commander, Major General

Edmund Osborne Lieutenant-General Edmund Archibald Osborne CB DSO (1885–1969) was a British Army officer who commanded II Corps during the Second World War. Military career Osborne entered the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and was commissioned as a sec ...

, that he was to be replaced by a regular officer as Osborne believed that Territorial officers were not efficient enough to command a battalion. Although bitterly disappointed, Dean agreed to accept the post of Group Commander of No. 5 Group, Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps, despite never having heard of either the appointment or the corps. He arrived at the group's depot at

Butlin's Clacton Butlin's Clacton was a holiday camp located on Clacton-on-Sea in England. It opened in 1938 and closed in 1983. History Clacton-on-Sea is the largest town on the Tendring Peninsula in Essex and was founded in 1871. It is a seaside resort that a ...

holiday camp in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

in October 1939. Dean was the youngest officer in the group, and although there were some experienced reservists amongst the other ranks, the majority had volunteered to escape unemployment or were conscripts who had been graded as unfit for any other military duty. On deployment to France with the British Expeditionary Force, No. 5 Group were issued with one rifle between every four men and undertook labouring tasks in the

Doullens Doullens (; pcd, Dourlin; former nl, Dorland) is a commune in the Somme department, Hauts-de-France, France. Its inhabitants are called ''Doullennais'' and ''Doullennaises''. Geography Doullens is situated on the N25 road, in the northern ...

area, near

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

, without any opportunity for training. In May 1940, the group were threatened by the advancing Germans and were ordered to evacuate but were without transport. Dean therefore marched his men to Saint-Pol where they attempted to find a train. With the rail system in chaos, Dean resorted to bribing the

station master The station master (or stationmaster) is the person in charge of a railway station, particularly in the United Kingdom and many other countries outside North America. In the United Kingdom, where the term originated, it is now largely historical ...

so that he could requisition a train and following a brief fire-fight with the leading German units the Group were able to reach

Wimereux Wimereux (; vls, Wimeruwe) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography Wimereux is a coastal town situated some north of Boulogne, at the junction of the D233 and the D940 roads, on the ban ...

near

Boulogne-sur-Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...

. Here Dean was ordered to send part of his force to Boulogne harbour to act as dock labour for 20th Guards Brigade who were arriving to defend the port. The Guards established a defensive perimeter around the town and were told to expect reinforcements from

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

, however these never arrived as the Germans had occupied the coast road. Therefore, Dean was asked to provide a force to fill a 3 mile (4.8 km) gap in the defences. Selecting 800 of his pioneers, Dean armed them with rifles taken from the remainder who were sent on to the harbour to begin evacuating to England. Lacking any heavy weapons, Dean directed the construction of roadblocks from whatever was available, which it was hoped might delay the advancing tanks. On 23 May, the Germans attacked in earnest; in fierce fighting at their barricades, the pioneers claimed to have destroyed one tank by igniting petrol underneath it. The pioneers were the last unit to pull back from the perimeter, because the runner bringing the order to withdraw could not locate Dean since there were no radios. Eventually arriving at the harbour, Dean ensured that as many of his men as possible were evacuated before being the last man to board the final destroyer to depart. Later he served in Madagascar and Italy, earning two Mentions in Despatches and a promotion to full colonel in 1945. He also served as a Deputy Lieutenant of Kent.

Personal life

In 1923, Dean married Marjorie Wood. They had one son and one daughter.

References

Biography
*

External links

''(Kent)'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Dean, Donald John 1897 births 1985 deaths People from Herne Hill Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment officers Artists' Rifles soldiers British World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross Officers of the Order of the British Empire British Army personnel of World War I British Army personnel of World War II Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog Deputy Lieutenants of Kent Royal Pioneer Corps officers British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross Military personnel from London