Guy Fawkes or Thanksgiving Trivia question ... I have to confess I don't know the answer !! Fourteen men of non-British nationality have received the Victoria Cross. These were five Americans, one Belgian, three Danes, two Germans, one Swede, a Swiss and a Ukranian. Can anybody name them ?
Ukranian .... Corporal Filip Konowal VC http://ww1talk.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=2025&highlight=Konowal http://www.victoriacross.org.uk/bbkonowa.htm
Swiss ....... Corporal Christian Ferdinand Schiess VC Simon Bradley http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news/fe....html?siteSect=119&sid=9285974&rss=true&ty=st http://www.rorkesdriftvc.com/vc/schiess.htm
Swede ...... Trooper Peter Brown VC http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/24833/pages/2510 http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11284768
Dane = Pte Joergen Christian Jensen, 50th Bn, AIF. See: http://www.awm.gov.au/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/jensen-vc.pdf Gareth
Heres the Begian ....... Adrian Carton De Wiart VC Adrian Carton De Wiart was born into an aristocratic family in Brussels, Belgium on May 5, 1880, eldest son of Leon Constant Ghislain Carton de Wiart. He spent his early days in Belgium and in England. The death of his Irish mother when he was six prompted his father to uproot the family and move to Cairo, Egypt to practice international law. Carton De Wiart was a Roman Catholic. He enjoyed his time in Egypt and learned to speak Arabic. Carton De Wiart was not particularly close to his father, who was a quiet, indoors sort of man. At an early opportunity his new stepmother sent him to a boarding school in England, the Roman Catholic Oratory School in Edgbaston, Birmingham, founded by John Henry Cardinal Newman. From there he went to Balliol College, Oxford, but left to join the British Army at the time of the Boer War around the turn of the 20th century. He had found his true vocation. No scholar, he was a truly ferocious warrior. He was shot through the lung in South Africa early on and invalided home. After a brief stab at Oxford again, where Aubrey Herbert was among his friends, he was given a commission in the Second Imperial Light Horse. He saw some action in South Africa again and in 1901 was given a regular commission in the 4th Dragoon Guards. Adrian was transferred to India in 1902. This gave him full scope for his love of sports, especially shooting and pig sticking. http://ww1talk.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=511&highlight=Adrian Carton Wiart http://www.rdgmuseum.org.uk/wiart.htm
Thomas Dinesen - Danish He was born in Rungsted, Denmark. On the outbreak of the First World War, Dinesen attempted to enlist in the British, French, and United States armies, before being finally accepted by the Canadian army. He enlisted in the Black Watch regiment. The brother of noted writer Isak Dinesen (born Karen Dinesen), he had a desire to fight in the conflict during World War I, despte Denmark's neutrality. He attempted to enlist in the British, French, and American armies, but all three turned him down. The Canadians, however, took him in, and he joined the 42nd Battalion, Quebec Regiment, Royal Highlanders of Canada. Dinesen won his VC for action at Parvillers, France, August 12, 1918, during the battle of Amiens. His citation states that "Private Dinesen displayed conspicuous bravery during 10 hours of hand-to-hand fighting which resulted in the capture of over a mile of strongly defended enemy trenches. Five times in succession he rushed forward alone and put hostile guns out of action, accounting for 12 of the enemy with bomb and bayonet. His sustained valour inspired his comrades at a very critical stage of the action." He later rose to the rank of Lieutenant. In his later years he took up writing, and wrote a number of books in Danish. The best known is Tanne, about his famous sister. In 1929 he published the book No man's land: En dansker med canadierne ved vestfronten. It was translated into English in 1930 under the title Merry Hell!: A Dane with the Canadians. The book describes his troublesome way to the Western Front as well as the events that won him the VC. He is buried in Horsholm Churchyard, Horsholm, Frederiksborg, Denmark. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7333759 Thomas Dinesen http://www.legionmagazine.com/en/index.php/2005/09/on-the-offensive-in-1918/ Picture from the Karen Blixen Museum Rungsted Denmark
I think your Dane comes under Australia Gareth !! ..... Victoria Cross Jorgen Christian Jensen, born 1891 in Logstor got the Victoria Cross (the Victoria Cross) as an Australian soldier for bravery in Flanders. Emigrated to Australia in 1915 he went into the Australian Army, where he was at Gallipoli and later in Flanders. He was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1917 when he received it from King George V personally. He was the first Dane who was decorated with the Victoria Cross! On 31 May 1922 Jorgen Christian Jensen died of complications from pneumonia including caused by its many life-threatening injuries acquired during more than 3 years of war effort. In Logstor in 2006 was unveiled a memorial for the brave Dane. Jorgen Christian Jensen as a soldier in the Australian Army
Percy Howard Hansen was a Danish national and an officer in the British Army Percy Howard Hansen, VC is buried in Copenhagen. He earned his Cross at Gallipoli in 1915 by saving six members of his regiment from a fire that had been set alight by the Turks. He died in 1951 but his name is on the local Cenotaph in Port Elizabeth and it appears as if Port Elizabeth claimed him as a local soldier due to the fact that he was born there in 1890 of Danish parents who had settled in the Colony. At the time of his act of valour Hansen was a member of The Lincolnshire Regiment. Percy Howard Hansen 26 October 1890 – 12 February 1951 Place of birth - Durban, South Africa Place of death - Copenhagen, Denmark Place of burial - Garnisons Kirkegaard, Copenhagen British Army - Rank Brigadier - Unit The Lincolnshire Regiment World War I and World War II Awards Victoria Cross Distinguished Service Order Military Cross Legion of Merit French Croix de guerre http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Hansen
