Gordon Muriel Flowerdew (2 January 1885 – 31 March 1918) was an English-born

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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

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forces, received for his actions at the Battle of Moreuil Wood.

Early life

He was born in Billingford,

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, one of fourteen children, and was educated at

Framlingham College Framlingham College is a public school (independent day and boarding school) in the town of Framlingham, near Woodbridge, Suffolk, England. Together with its preparatory school and nursery at Brandeston Hall, it serves pupils from 3 to 18 yea ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, as were all nine of his brothers. At the age of 18, after a bout of pleurisy, he emigrated to

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, where he took up ranching, settling in

Walhachin Walhachin is a small ghost town in the Thompson Country region of British Columbia, Canada. It is located about 10 km west of Kamloops Lake, and is 65 km west of Kamloops on the south shore of the Thompson River near Highway 1. The popu ...

, a community known locally as "little England".

Military career

When the war broke out in September 1914, he enlisted as a private in

Lord Strathcona's Horse Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) (LdSH C is a regular armoured regiment of the Canadian Army and is Canada’s only tank regiment. Currently based in Edmonton, Alberta, the regiment is part of 3rd Canadian Division's 1 Canadian Mechanize ...

. He rose quickly through the ranks and was commissioned as an officer in 1916. In January 1918 Flowerdew was given command of C

Squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

of Lord Strathcona's Horse. For most of the war, the

Canadian Cavalry Brigade The Canadian Cavalry Brigade was raised in December 1914, under its first commanding officer Brigadier-General J.E.B. Seely. It was originally composed of two Canadian and one British regiments and an attached artillery battery. The Canadian u ...

was not involved in much direct fighting, because of the static nature of the warfare. However, when the

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

launched

Operation Michael Operation Michael was a major German military offensive during the First World War that began the German Spring Offensive on 21 March 1918. It was launched from the Hindenburg Line, in the vicinity of Saint-Quentin, France. Its goal was to ...

and began a rapid advance in the spring of 1918, cavalry again became an important factor. In late March, as the Germans approached

Moreuil Moreuil () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Moreuil is situated on the D920 and D935 crossroads, some southeast of Amiens, on the banks of the river Avre. Moreuil station has rail connectio ...

and threatened to cross the L'Avre River, the last natural barrier before

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 ...

, the Canadian Cavalry Corps was assigned the task of stopping them. As the Germans began to enter Moreuil Wood from the east,

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 ...

Flowerdew's squadron rode around the wood and approached the Germans' flank from the north. Flowerdew's commanding officer, Brigadier

Jack Seely John Edward Bernard Seely, 1st Baron Mottistone, (31 May 1868 – 7 November 1947), also known as Jack Seely, was a British Army general and politician. He was a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) from 1900 to 1904 and a Liberal MP from ...

, had ordered a cavalry charge. Riding into the fire of five infantry companies and an artillery battery, the squadron suffered atrocious casualties (more than half of the men in C Squadron were killed), and Flowerdew himself was fatally wounded. However, the cavalry charge so unnerved the Germans that they were never able to capture Moreuil Wood, and their advance turned into a retreat in early April. His actions in "The Last Great Cavalry Charge" led to the award of the Victoria Cross. Flowerdew lived long enough to be made aware of the success of the charge. Seely wrote to his sister, referring to "when your brave young brother met his death at the moment of victory to which he had contributed the largest share".

Citation

Alfred Munnings - Charge of Flowerdew's Squadron

Flowerdew's Victoria Cross was one of twenty awarded during the battles of the German and Allied offensives in the Amiens area in 1918.

Alfred Munnings Sir Alfred James Munnings, (8 October 1878 – 17 July 1959) was known as one of England's finest painters of horses, and as an outspoken critic of Modernism. Engaged by Lord Beaverbrook's Canadian War Memorials Fund, he earned several prest ...

, who was then a largely unknown war artist, created an oil painting ''Charge of Flowerdew's Squadron'' which depicts this cavalry charge. The canvas was formerly at the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

in London; it is now in the collection of the

Canadian War Museum The Canadian War Museum (french: link=no, Musée canadien de la guerre; CWM) is a national museum on the country's military history in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The museum serves as both an educational facility on Canadian military history, in a ...

in Ottawa. Flowerdew is buried at Namps-au-Val Cemetery in France located 11 miles south-east of Amiens (plot I, row H. grave 1).

Legacy

His posthumously awarded Victoria Cross was donated by his mother to Framlingham College in England. It had been on loan to, and displayed by, Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) at their gallery in

The Military Museums The Military Museums is a reorganization of the former Museum of the Regiments in Calgary, Alberta, announced by Sophie, Countess of Wessex, on June 3, 2006. The new museum comprises the former Museum of the Regiments as well as the relocated Nav ...

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, Alberta, from 1990 to 2002. The medal was returned to the college in 2002, returning to be displayed on the 2018 Moreuil Wood Military Parade and commemoration. Lieutenant Flowerdew is a character in the play ''Mary's Wedding'', by Canadian playwright Stephen Massicotte. The climax of the play takes place during the charge at Moreuil Wood.Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
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References

External links

Gordon Flowerdew's digitized service file

Gordon Flowerdew
a featured article on Duty & Valour
Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
* *

Royal Alberta Museum The Royal Alberta Museum (RAM) is a museum of human and natural history in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The museum is located in Downtown Edmonton, north of City Hall. The museum is the largest in western Canada with more than exhibition space ...

"Strathcona's Horse: A Western Heritage" (2000)

Canadian Great War Project
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Flowerdew, Gordon Burials in France Canadian World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross People from Billingford, Breckland 1885 births Canadian military personnel killed in World War I 1918 deaths People from British Columbia People educated at Framlingham College Canadian Expeditionary Force officers British emigrants to Canada Military personnel from Norfolk Lord Strathcona's Horse officers Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians)