William Cosgrove
VC MSM (1 October 1888 – 14 July 1936) was an Irish 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
William Cosgrove was born at
Aghada
Aghada () is a village in County Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is situated on the eastern side of Cork Harbour, around 12 km by road south of Midleton.
Aghada is also the parish name for the area. The civil parishes in Ireland, civil ...
, County Cork on 1 October 1888, the son of Michael and Mary Cosgrove. He had four brothers, Dan, Ned, David, Joseph and a sister Mary-Catherine. While they were still young their father emigrated to Australia, but later returned. In the meantime his wife moved with her children to a cottage in nearby Peafield, and the children attended school at the National School, Ballinrostig. William began work at as an apprentice butcher at Whitegate, and one of his daily chores was a morning delivery to
Fort Carlisle (now Fort Davis) with a consignment of meat for the troops. It was from Fort Carlisle that he joined the army.
First World War
William Cosgrove enlisted in the
Royal Munster Fusiliers
The Royal Munster Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1922. It traced its origins to the East India Company, East India Company's Bengal European Regiment raised in 1652, which later became the 101st Regiment ...
on 24 March 1909 and was given the regimental number 8980. At the outbreak of war the 1st Battalion of the Munster Fusiliers was stationed in
Rangoon
Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
, Burma, as regular battalions were routinely stationed overseas. They left Rangoon on 21 November 1914, and William Cosgrove (now Corporal) landed in England on 10 January 1915. Upon landing they still wore their Indian issue uniforms and stood on the cold quay in their khaki drill shorts. The battalion was then assigned to the 86th Brigade of the
29th Division (United Kingdom), in preparation for the landings at the
Dardanelles
The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (; ...
.
Gallipoli
The 1st Munsters, together with the 1st Battalion
Royal Dublin Fusiliers
The Royal Dublin Fusiliers was an Irish infantry Regiment of the British Army created in 1881, one of eight Irish regiments raised and garrisoned in Ireland, with its home depot in Naas. The Regiment was created by the amalgamation of two Brit ...
and
Hampshire Regiment
The Hampshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot and the 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot. The regim ...
, were on the converted collier 'River Clyde' when it ran ashore for the
Cape Helles 'V' beach landing on 25 April 1915 at 06.20 am. On departing from the ship's bay they were subject to fierce enfilading machine gun fire from hidden Turkish defences. One hundred or more of the Battalion's men fell at this stage of the battle, and those who managed to get ashore could not advance due to the withering Turkish fire. On the following day it was decided to destroy the wire entanglements facing the men, as the naval bombardment had failed to do so. It was during this attack that Corporal Cosgrove 1st RMF, performed the action that was to earn him the regiment's first Victoria Cross of the war. The action was described by Cosgrove himself:
He was also wounded during this action. Promoted to Sergeant, he saw no further action due to his wound, which was a contributing factor in his death later on.
Victoria Cross
The award of the V.C. was gazette on 23 August 1915. It stated that it was awarded:
On 26 April 1915, the second day of the disastrous V beach
landing at Cape Helles
The landing at Cape Helles ( tr, Seddülbahir Çıkarması) was part of the Gallipoli Campaign the amphibious landings on the Gallipoli peninsula by British and French forces on 25 April 1915 during the First World War. Helles, at the foot o ...
, during the
Battle of Gallipoli, Turkey, when just three companies of Munsters had made it to the shelter of some dunes, at daybreak they charged to take the village behind the
Sedd el Bahr
Sedd el Bahr ( tr, Seddülbahir, ota, سد البحر, meaning "Walls of the Sea") is a village in the district of Eceabat, Çanakkale Province, Turkey. It is located at Cape Helles on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey. The village lies east of ...
fort overlooking the bay. Corporal Cosgrove led a company section during the attack on the
Turkish positions. Barbed wire held them up and Corporal Cosgrove, described by his command as "an Irish Giant" set himself the task of pulling the stanchion posts of the enemy's high wire entanglement single-handed out of the ground, notwithstanding the terrific fire from both front and flanks with officers and men falling all around him. Thanks to his exceptional bravery, his heroic actions contributed greatly to the successful clearing of the heights. Turkish counter-attacks were held off.
He was described by Surgeon P.Burrowes-Kelly, RN.,D.S.O., as an "Irish giant" and by a person from Aghada who remembered him "As a very shy man who hated to be fussed over."
Later career
Cosgrove transferred to the
Royal Fusiliers
The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881.
The regiment served in many wars ...
in 1918, to the
Leinster Regiment
The Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army, formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 100th (Prince of Wales's Royal Canadian) Regiment of Foot and the 109th Regiment of Foot ...
in 1920, the
Northumberland Fusiliers
The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army. Raised in 1674 as one of three 'English' units in the Dutch Anglo-Scots Brigade, it accompanied William III to England in the November 1688 Glorious Revolution ...
in 1922, and later went as an Instructor to the
Indian Territorial Force The Indian Territorial Force (ITF) was a part-time, paid volunteer military organisation within the British Indian Army, with recruits from British India. Its units were made up of European officers and Indian other ranks. It was formed in 1920, a ...
in 1928 to become 7042223 Staff Sgt Instructor. He came home in 1935 pending discharge to pension. However, he was admitted to Millbank hospital, and took discharge before he was fit. After a short leave in Cork, he returned to London, where he was admitted to Middlesex hospital. He was later transferred to
Millbank
Millbank is an area of central London in the City of Westminster. Millbank is located by the River Thames, east of Pimlico and south of Westminster. Millbank is known as the location of major government offices, Burberry headquarters, the Millb ...
hospital London, where he died on 21 July 1936 aged 47.
Final salute
The Royal Munster Fusilier's Old Comrades Association Journal recorded his funeral:
On 16 June 1940, the O.C.A., of the Royal Munster Fusiliers unveiled a memorial over the grave.
Medals
In 1972, Cosgrove's V.C., was sold for a record price £2,300 to a private collector. When questioned about the high price which the medal fetched, the auctioneer replied "When one buys a gallantry medal, it is not just the medal one buys, but the act that won it. William Cosgrove’s Victoria Cross together with his other medals was sold at an auction by
Dix Noonan Webb
Noonans Mayfair, formerly Dix Noonan Webb, is an auction house based in London. It specialises in coins, medals, jewellery and paper money. Since being established, the firm has sold over 400,000 lots.
Noonans was established in 1990 as Buckland D ...
held on 22 September 2006 for ''The world's most valuable auction of orders, decorations and medals''. A total of £1,965,010 was spent by 305 different buyers, a figure which represents "the highest amount ever realised by any numismatic auction in the UK". The day's highest price, £180,000, was paid by a collector for the Gallipoli landings Victoria Cross group of six, which included the medal awarded to Sgt. William Cosgrove, Royal Munster Fusiliers.
[RMFA Newsletter, Spring 2008, p. 5]
Notes
References
Listed in order of publication year
*''
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 ...
'' (1981, 1988 and 1997)
*
*''
Ireland's VCs
List of Irish Victoria Cross recipients lists all recipients of the Victoria Cross (post-nominal letters "VC") born on the island of Ireland, together with the date and place of their VC action. The Victoria Cross is the highest war honour of ...
'' (Dept of Economic Development, 1995)
*''
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)
*''
Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross
List of Irish Victoria Cross recipients lists all recipients of the Victoria Cross (post-nominal letters "VC") born on the island of Ireland, together with the date and place of their VC action. The Victoria Cross is the highest war honour of ...
'' (Richard Doherty & David Truesdale, 2000)
*Heroic Options, ''The Irish in the British Army'' (Desmond and Jean Bowen,
Illustrated, 332 pages, Pen & Sword Books, 2005) .
External links
Victoria Cross''(Co. Cork)''
Homepage of the Royal Munster Fusilier's Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cosgrove, William
1888 births
1936 deaths
Military personnel from County Cork
Royal Fusiliers soldiers
Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment soldiers
Irish Gallipoli campaign recipients of the Victoria Cross
Royal Munster Fusiliers soldiers
British Army personnel of World War I
Royal Northumberland Fusiliers soldiers
People from County Cork
Indian Territorial Force soldiers
British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross
Recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal (United Kingdom)
Burials in County Cork