James Welch VC (1889 – 1978)
James posed a particular problem to me. I thought that I had accounted for all the Victoria Cross holders that had a Sheffield connection when I came across a brief article in a newspaper of the time which stated that James was presented to King George V1 and Queen Elizabeth on the occasion of their Royal Visit to Sheffield. The newspaper was The Times and the date was 22 October 1937. It referred to the Coronation tour of their majesties which visited Sheffield the previous day
I checked what little information there was on James and could not find anything that connected him to the Sheffield area. This is a brief summary of what is available
James Welch VC (7 July 1889 – 28 June 1978) was born at Stratfield Saye. He was 27 years old, and a Lance-Corporal in the 1st Battalion, The Royal Berkshire Regiment (Princess Charlotte of Wales's), British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. This is the a copy of the citation that appeared in The London Gazette dated 27th June 1917
On 29 April 1917 near Oppy, France, Lance-Corporal Welch entered an enemy trench
and killed one man after a severe hand-to-hand struggle. Then, armed only with
an empty revolver, he chased four of the enemy across the open and captured them
single-handed. He handled his machine-gun with the utmost fearlessness, and more
than once went into the open, exposed to heavy fire, to search for and collect
ammunition and spare parts in order to keep his guns in action, which he
succeeded in doing for over five hours, until wounded by a shell.
He later achieved the rank of Sergeant. He died on 28 June 1978 at Bournemouth
and was cremated a few days later at the local crematorium. His Victoria
Cross is displayed at The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire
Regiment (Salisbury) Museum, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England.
However thankfully in the autumn of 2008someone posted a query to the Great War Forum and received the following reply
"VCs of the First World War : Arras and Messines 1917 (Gerald Gliddon) says that he lived in Sheffield after the war and worked for a cardboard box company. He moved from Sheffield to Bournemouth in 1960. He served in the RAF Auxiliary Reserve in WW2. So about 40 years living in Sheffield....."
And so it looks as though James spent nearly all his working life in Sheffield, retiring to Bournemouth in 1960
Sources
VCs of the First World War : Arras and Messines 1917 (Gerald Gliddon)
London Gazette 27 June 1917
Notes
James attended the VC REUNION DINNER on Saturday, 9th November 1929 at The Royal Gallery, House of Lords, Palace of Westminster
This page was last updated on 04/12/08 16:26