World War I Victoria Cross Recipient. He was the first Territorial Army officer to be awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to a British soldier. The son of a clergyman, he seemed destined to follow his father into the Church until the outbreak of the First World War, when he obtained a commission in the Queen Victoria's Rifles, the 9th (County of London) Battalion of the London Regiment of the British Army. On April 17, 1915, the British Army captured Hill 60, a low rise to the south-east of Ypres. On the afternoon of April 20th, in the middle of fierce German efforts to retake the hill, his company was sent up to take ammunition supplies to the defenders. The situation quickly deteriorated, with many men and all the other officers on the hill being killed. He refused verbal and written orders to withdraw, saying he and his company would remain until properly relieved. They repelled numerous attacks through the night. When they were relieved the next morning, he returned with 14 men remaining from the 150-strong company. The citation for the Victoria Cross he was awarded for this action reads: "For most conspicuous bravery on "Hill 60" during the night of 20th–21st April, 1915. Although the only officer on the hill at the time, and with very few men, he successfully resisted all attacks on his trench, and continued throwing bombs and encouraging his men until relieved. His trench during all this time was being heavily shelled and bombed and was subjected to heavy machine gun fire by the enemy."Two days after the attacks, he was promoted directly to the rank of Captain. He saw further action in the early stages of the Second Battle of Ypres until he was invalided back to England suffering from poison gas and psychological effects. When he recovered, he was appointed as an instructor at the Officers Infantry School. He returned to the Western Front in summer 1916 as a General Staff Officer Grade II on the Third Army Staff. In January 1940, he resigned from the school and was commissioned into the Royal Army Chaplains' Department. He was appointed Senior Chaplain of the Algiers area in November 1942, reaching the rank of Chaplain to the Forces 3rd Class (Major). He took on the parish of St. Mary's, Harrow in 1944. In 1952, he resigned his commission and moved to the parish church of West Grinstead, where he stayed until he retired in 1958.