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 ...
Wilfrith Elstob (8 September 1888 – 21 March 1918) was an English 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.
Background
Elstob was born in
Chichester
Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...
in 1888, the son of the Rev. Canon J. G. Elstob and Frances Alice Elstob. His elder brother,
Eric
The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization).
The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...
, would serve in the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
and play
first-class cricket
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...
. He was educated at
Christ's Hospital
Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553 ...
. Until war broke out and he volunteered, he was a schoolteacher. When Elstob was 29 years old, and a temporary
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 ...
commanding the 16th (Service) Battalion,
Manchester Regiment
The Manchester Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1958. The regiment was created during the 1881 Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot and the 96th ...
,
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 ...
during the First World War, he was awarded the VC for his actions on 21 March 1918 at the Manchester Redoubt, near
Saint-Quentin, France on the first day of the
German spring offensive. He was
killed in action that same day.
Citation
The medal
His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Museum of the Manchester Regiment, at
Ashton Town Hall
Ashton Town Hall is a public building on Katherine Street in Ashton-under-Lyne. It is a Grade II listed building.
History
The building, which was designed by William Young and Charles Lee in the Neoclassical style, was completed in 1840. The ...
,
Ashton-under-Lyne
Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, east of Manche ...
, England.
Commemoration
Elstob has no known grave. He is commemorated on the
Pozières Memorial
The Pozières Memorial is a World War I memorial, located near the commune of Pozières, in the Somme department of France, and unveiled in August 1930. It lists the names of 14,657 British and South African soldiers of the Fifth and Fourth ...
, in the
Somme __NOTOC__
Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places
*Somme (department), a department of France
*Somme, Queensland, Australia
*Canal de la Somme, a canal in France
*Somme (river), a river in France
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Somme'' (book), a ...
department of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, to the missing of the
Fifth Army; and on the
war memorial in Macclesfield,
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
. There is a memorial to him in
All Saints Church, Siddington
All Saints Church is in the village of Siddington, Cheshire, England. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of C ...
, where his father was vicar.
Memorial to Lt. Col. W. Elstob VC, Siddington, Cheshire
/ref>
References
Further reading
*''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 - Spring Offensive 1918
''VCs of the First World War'' is a series of books that list the List of First World War Victoria Cross recipients, Victoria Cross recipients of the First World War. The series consists of 13 books written by four different authors, first publishe ...
'' (Gerald Gliddon, 1997)
*Wilfrith Elstob, VC, DSO, MC: Manchester Regiment – "Here We Fight, Here We Die" (Robert Bonner, 1998)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elstob, Wilfrith
1918 deaths
Manchester Regiment officers
Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
Recipients of the Military Cross
British Army personnel of World War I
British World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross
British military personnel killed in World War I
People from Chichester
People educated at Christ's Hospital
1888 births
British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross
Military personnel from Sussex