Lance Sergeant
Lance sergeant (LSgt or L/Sgt) is an appointment in the armies of the Commonwealth and formerly also a rank in the United States Army.
Commonwealth
Lance-sergeant in the armies of the Commonwealth was an appointment given to a corporal so they ...
John Harold Rhodes
VC DCM & Bar (17 May 1891 – 27 November 1917) 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 ...
soldier and an
English
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* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
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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 ...
(VC), 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
Rhodes was born on 17 May 1891 in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
in
Packmoor
Packmoor is a small village in Stoke-on-Trent near to Kidsgrove.
References
Villages in Staffordshire
{{Staffordshire-geo-stub ...
,
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...
,
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
, the son of an ex-soldier and miner, Ernie Rhodes. He was educated in Newchapel and later became a miner at the
Chatterley Whitfield Colliery. Around 1910, however, he joined the
Grenadier Guards
"Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it."
, colors =
, colors_label =
, march = Slow: " Scipio"
, mascot =
, equipment =
, equipment ...
of the
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 ...
and served for three years, after which he returned to the colliery.
First World War
On the outbreak of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, John was recalled to the
forces as a reservist. Now 26 years old, and a
Lance-Sergeant
Lance sergeant (LSgt or L/Sgt) is an appointment in the armies of the Commonwealth and formerly also a rank in the United States Army.
Commonwealth
Lance-sergeant in the armies of the Commonwealth was an appointment given to a corporal so they c ...
in the 3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards, British Army during the First World War John won the
Distinguished Conduct Medal
The Distinguished Conduct Medal was a decoration established in 1854 by Queen Victoria for gallantry in the field by other ranks of the British Army. It is the oldest British award for gallantry and was a second level military decoration, ranki ...
on 17 May 1915 and three months later was awarded a
bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
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* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
to this medal. While back in England recovering from his wounds, John married Lizzie but was not destined to live to see their son, John Rhodes (who, as an artilleryman, was himself awarded the Oak Leaves for gallantry in Northwestern Europe in 1944),
Back on the front-line, the following deed took place at the
Battle of Poelcapelle
The Battle of Poelcappelle was fought in Flanders, Belgium, on 9 October 1917 by the British Second Army and Fifth Army against the German 4th Army, during the First World War. The battle marked the end of the string of highly successful Briti ...
for which John was awarded the VC and also the Croix De Guerre:
He was killed in action at
Fontaine-Notre-Dame, France on 27 November 1917 and buried at
Rocquigny-Equancourt Road British Cemetery, Manancourt.
CWGC entry
/ref>
Medal
His Victoria Cross is displayed at The Guards Regimental Headquarters (Grenadier Guards RHQ) in Wellington Barracks
Wellington Barracks is a military barracks in Westminster, central London, for the Foot Guards battalions on public duties in that area. The building is located about three hundred yards from Buckingham Palace, allowing the guard to be able to ...
, London, England.
A memorial plaque was unveiled at Chatterley Whitfield Mining Museum on 20 April 1984. There is also a road named in honour of John at nearby Tunstall. There is a memorial in Packmoor village on the Millennium Green outside Packmoor School which was unveiled in 2000.
References
*''Monuments to Courage
David Charles Harvey (29 July 1946 – 4 March 2004) was a historian and author. He is notable for his seminal work, ''Monuments To Courage'', which documents the graves of almost all recipients of the Victoria Cross, a task that took him over 36 ...
'' (David Harvey, 1999)
*''The Register of the Victoria Cross
''The Register of the Victoria Cross'' is a reference work that provides brief information on every Victoria Cross awarded until the publication date. Each entry provides a summary of the deed, along with a photograph of the recipient and the fol ...
'' (This England, 1997)
*''VCs of the First World War
''VCs of the First World War'' is a series of books that list the Victoria Cross recipients of the First World War. The series consists of 13 books written by four different authors, first published under the label Sutton Publishing Limited, part ...
: Passchendaele 1917'' (Stephen Snelling, 1998)
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhodes, John Harold
1891 births
1917 deaths
Burials in France
People from Tunstall, Staffordshire
British World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross
Grenadier Guards soldiers
British Army personnel of World War I
British military personnel killed in World War I
Recipients of the Distinguished Conduct Medal
British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross
Burials at Rocquigny-Equancourt Road British Cemetery
Military personnel from Staffordshire