James Collis
James Collis | |
---|---|
Born | Cambridge, England | 19 April 1856
Died | 28 June 1918 Battersea, London, England | (aged 62)
Buried | Wandsworth Cemetery |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | British Army |
Years of service | 1872–1881, 1887–1891, 1914–1917 |
Rank | Private |
Unit | Royal Horse Artillery Suffolk Regiment |
Battles/wars | Second Anglo-Afghan War World War I |
Awards | Victoria Cross (forfeited) |
James Collis VC (19 April 1856 – 28 June 1918) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Details
Collis was a 24‑year‑old gunner in the Royal Horse Artillery, British Army, during the Second Anglo-Afghan War. On 28 July 1880, during the retreat from Maiwand to Kandahar in Afghanistan, when the officer commanding the battery was trying to bring in a limber with wounded men under cross-fire, Gunner Collis ran forward and drew the enemy's fire on himself, thus taking their attention from the limber. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for this action. His citation read:
For conspicuous bravery during the retreat from Maiwand to Kandahar when the officer commanding the battery was endeavouring to bring in a limber with wounded men under a cross-fire, in running forward and drawing the enemy's fire on himself, thus taking off their attention from the limber.[1]
Further information
He was born in Cambridge on 19 April 1856.
He was presented his VC, on
Collis was one of eight men whose VCs were forfeited. He was stripped of the medal on 18 November 1895 after being convicted of bigamy.[2]
He enlisted in the
On Collis' death his sister made a plea to
The medal was bought by
References
- ^ "No. 24973". The London Gazette. 17 May 1881. p. 2553.
- ^ a b COLLIS Archived 28 October 2004 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d CWGC Casualty Record. Date accessed 14 March 2015.
- ^ He could qualify for registration had he died serving during the war or his death, after discharge, was medically attributed to effects of service in the war. The latter criterion appears to have been the case.
- ^ CWGC Casualty Record - entry in published war graves register, Index London No I, Wandsworth Cemetery. The VC does not appear on the printed record.
- ^ JAMES COLLIS VC at www.victoriacross.org.uk
- ^ John Percival. For valour: the Victoria Cross in action, Thames Methuen, London, 1985.
- ^ Ashcroft, Lord (23 October 2014). "The hero who was stripped of his Victoria Cross". Daily Express. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
External links
- Location of grave and VC medal (S.W. London)
- Gunner James Colliss
- News Item (biography & re-burial details)