The 5 Americans who made history by earning the Victoria Cross

Since Queen Victoria instituted the Victoria Cross in 1856, 5 American-born males have acquired Britain’s highest navy award for valor.

The primary, William Henry Harrison Seeley from Topsham, Maine, was pushed by a household squabble to go to sea when he was 22 years outdated. After deserting a service provider ship in Boston, he enlisted within the Royal Navy and served aboard the warship Impérieuse on the China Station through the Taiping Rebel.

In 1862, he transferred to the frigate Euryalus, on which he participated in a multinational punitive expedition to take out shore batteries {that a} Japanese daimyo, Mori Takachika, was utilizing to bombard any European vessels that sailed by way of the Straits of Shimonoseki between Honshu and Kyushu.

Reconnoitering from Euryalus on Sept. 5, 1864, Seeley pinpointed a stockade and whereas wounded by grapeshot, returned to provide a full report back to 1st Lt. Frederick Edwards. Afterward, Seeley was collaborating in an assault on Mori’s batteries when his captain, John Hobhouse Inglis Alexander, was badly wounded within the ankle, at which level Seeley carried him 1 / 4 mile on his again to succeed in security.

On Sept. 22, 1865, Seeley was awarded the Victoria Cross for his heroism at Shimonoseki. Seeley returned to Massachusetts, the place he died on Oct. 1, 1914.

By the point of Seeley’s dying, there was a brand new, quickly increasing struggle in Europe, which included the British Empire and would quickly contain the USA. The struggle would set the stage for 4 extra Individuals to earn Britain’s highest honor whereas passing themselves off as Canadians.

George Harry Mullin was born in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 15, 1891. When he was 2 years outdated, Mullin’s mother and father resettled north of the U.S.-Canada border in present-day Saskatchewan.

Given the circumstances, Mullin had little hassle enlisting within the Canadian Expeditionary Drive in December 1914. He was connected to the scout and sniper part of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Mild Infantry.

Shipped to France, Mullin managed to outlive the hazards and miseries of the trenches for 2 years, throughout which he was awarded the Navy Medal for his bravery through the seize of Vimy Ridge in April 1917.

In July 1917, the British launched a brand new offensive centered round Passchendaele, which, like earlier makes an attempt, degenerated right into a succession of struggles towards one well-defended German goal after one other.

Inside that context, on Oct. 30, Mullin had his second, as quoted within the Jan. 11, 1918, challenge of the London Gazette:

“When single-handed he captured a commanding ‘Capsule-box,’ which had withstood the heavy bombardment and was inflicting heavy casualties to our forces and holding up the assault. He rushed right into a sniper’s publish in entrance, destroyed the garrison with bombs, and, crawling on to the highest of the ‘Capsule-box,’ he shot the 2 machine-gunners along with his revolver. Sgt. Mullin then rushed to a different entrance and compelled the garrison of ten to give up.

“His gallantry and fearlessness have been witnessed by many, and though fast hearth was directed upon him, and his garments riddled with bullets he by no means faltered in his objective and he not solely helped to avoid wasting the state of affairs, but in addition not directly saved many lives.”

Mullin left the navy as a lieutenant and returned to Moosomin, the place he married and had 4 youngsters. In 1934, he served as sergeant at arms on the Saskatchewan Legislature. Throughout World Conflict II, he served as a captain within the Veterans’ Guard.

Retiring as a serious, he died in Regina on April 5, 1963, and is buried in Moosomin. His VC is on show on the Museum of the Regiments in Calgary, Alberta.

There could be three extra Individuals serving within the Canadian Expeditionary Drive whose extraordinary actions earned them a Victoria Cross, all in 1918.

Raphael Louis Zengel was born in Faribault, Minnesota, on Nov. 11, 1894, however shortly thereafter his mom moved to a homestead in Canada.

In 1915, Zengel enlisted within the fifth Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 1st Canadian Division, Canadian Expeditionary Drive.

Throughout a trench raid close to Passchendaele, on Nov. 11, 1917, his platoon chief and platoon sergeant have been disabled, however he took cost to perform the mission, for which he was awarded the Navy Medal in March 1918.

5 months later, as his unit was advancing east of Warvillers on Aug. 9, 1918, Zengel observed a spot in his formation the place a German machine nest threatened his battalion with flanking hearth. Dashing throughout 200 yards of open area, he killed two enemy troopers and scattered the remainder, after which he led and impressed his battalion for the remainder of the day’s advance.

For this, King George V awarded him the VC at Buckingham Palace on Dec. 13, 1918.

Serving within the Calgary Fireplace Division till 1927 and on the house entrance in World Conflict II, Zengel retired from his second battle as a sergeant main. Zengel died on Feb. 27, 1977, and is buried in Alberta.

Born in Talmadge, Maine, on Jan. 29, 1894, William Henry Metcalf attended Waite Grammar Faculty and was working as a barber when he enlisted within the twelfth Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Drive, in Valcartier, Quebec on Sept. 23, 1914.

Metcalf shipped out to France the next month and transferred to the sixteenth Manitoba Regiment, third Brigade, 1st Canadian Division, as a corporal.

After surviving the battles of Ypres, the Somme, Passchendaele and Amiens, Metcalf was a lance corporal with the Navy Medal and bar when the Allied forces launched their last offensives of the struggle.

On Sept. 2, 1918, Metcalf’s unit was assaulting the Drocourt-Quéant line at Cangicourt when it encountered heavy resistance on its proper flank. Contacting a British tank, Metcalf led it towards the enemy positions by previous it within the open with a sign flag to make up for the poor visibility its crew was afforded.

Though repeatedly wounded by enemy hearth, he guided the tank till a breakthrough was achieved and solely then took cowl to obtain medical consideration. He was hospitalized for 9 months earlier than receiving the VC.

After the struggle, Metcalf settled down in Maine as a storage mechanic. He died on Aug. 8, 1968, and in accordance along with his final needs, was buried in Maine soil overlooking the St. Croix River towards Canada.

On the identical day Metcalf earned his Victoria Cross, one other American was doing the identical in the identical space — however not in the identical method.

Bellenden Seymour Hutcheson was born on Dec. 16, 1883, and educated at Northwestern College Medical Faculty.

He married a Nova Scotian, and on Dec. 14, 1915, he renounced his American citizenship to enlist within the 97th Battalion, 1st Ontario Central Regiment, Canadian Expeditionary Drive, as a medical officer.

On the primary day of the ultimate British offensive on Aug. 8, 1918, he rescued a number of wounded British troops.

A month later, on Sept. 2, 1918, Hutcheson was connected to the seventy fifth Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Drive, assaulting Dury, east of Arras. Throughout the battle, he recovered quite a few troopers, together with a gravely wounded officer for whom he elicited the assistance of British and captured German troops, then superior beneath hearth to rescue a wounded sergeant.

Having already earned the Navy Cross, Hutcheson was awarded the VC for his actions on Dec. 14, 1918.

After the struggle, Hutcheson reclaimed his American citizenship to renew his medical career in Illinois. He died in Cairo, Illinois on April 9, 1954, and is buried in Illinois.