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William Hackett VC (11 June 1873 – 27 June 1916) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and
Commonwealth War Graves Commission he worked as a miner for 23 years. He was married to Alice née Tooby who received the medal on his behalf, and left two children, Arthur and Mary W. Hackett. After being rejected three times by the York and Lancaster Regiment for being too old, Hackett enlisted in the British Army on 25 October 1915, despite having been diagnosed with a heart condition. He spent two weeks of basic training at Chatham, joining
(online)
access date 6 July 2015
Hackett's name is recorded on the Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing in Berks Cemetery Extension near Ploegsteert in Hainaut, Belgium. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the
Tunnellers Memorial
* Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999) * The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997) *
Royal Engineers Museum
Sappers VCs {{DEFAULTSORT:Hackett, William People from Nottingham Royal Engineers soldiers British World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross British military personnel killed in World War I British Army personnel of World War I 1873 births 1916 deaths British coal miners English miners British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross Tunnel warfare in World War I Military personnel from Nottingham
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.
Biography
Hackett was born 11 June 1873 to John and Harriet Hackett of Nottingham;Hackett, WilliamCommonwealth War Graves Commission he worked as a miner for 23 years. He was married to Alice née Tooby who received the medal on his behalf, and left two children, Arthur and Mary W. Hackett. After being rejected three times by the York and Lancaster Regiment for being too old, Hackett enlisted in the British Army on 25 October 1915, despite having been diagnosed with a heart condition. He spent two weeks of basic training at Chatham, joining
172nd Tunnelling Company
The 172nd Tunnelling Company was one of the tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers created by the British Army during World War I. The tunnelling units were occupied in offensive and defensive mining involving the placing and maintaining of ...
. He later served with 254th Tunnelling Company
The 254th Tunnelling Company was one of the tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers created by the British Army during World War I. The tunnelling units were occupied in offensive and defensive mining involving the placing and maintaining of ...
, Corps of Royal Engineers. He was 43 years old and a Sapper in British Army during the First World War when he performed a deed for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross on 22 June/23 June 1916 at Shaftesbury Avenue Mine, near Givenchy-lès-la-Bassée, France.
Hackett died in an attempt to help fellow miners when a tunnel collapsed at Shaftesbury Avenue Mine on 26 June 1916.''The real hero tunnellers of World War One who inspired BBC's Birdsong'', www.mirror.co.uk, 21 January 201(online)
access date 6 July 2015
Citation
Memorials
Hackett's name is recorded on the Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing in Berks Cemetery Extension near Ploegsteert in Hainaut, Belgium. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Royal Engineers Museum
The Royal Engineers Museum, Library and Archive is a military engineering museum and library in Gillingham, Kent. It tells the story of the Corps of Royal Engineers and British military engineering in general.
History
The 'Ravelin Building', ...
''(Chatham, England)''.
In Givenchy-lès-la-Bassée, the ''Tunnellers Memorial'' commemorates the action on 26 June 1916 for which Hackett was awarded the Victoria Cross. The memorial stands at the site of the Shaftesbury Shaft and the Red Dragon Crater. Its dimensions, high and wide, mirror the standard interior proportions of mine galleries constructed by the tunnelling companies in the Flanders clays. The memorial was designed by Peter Barton and unveiled on 19 June 2010.
In fiction
A tunneller with the same name, also a miner during World War I, is the main character in the 2020 movie '' The War Below'', though his eventual fate is different to that of the real Hackett.References
External links
Tunnellers Memorial
* Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999) * The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997) *
The Sapper VCs
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the '' Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is he ...
(Gerald Napier, 1998)Royal Engineers Museum
Sappers VCs {{DEFAULTSORT:Hackett, William People from Nottingham Royal Engineers soldiers British World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross British military personnel killed in World War I British Army personnel of World War I 1873 births 1916 deaths British coal miners English miners British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross Tunnel warfare in World War I Military personnel from Nottingham