Captain Bernard Armitage Warburton Warburton-Lee, VC (13 September 1895 – 10 April 1940) was a senior officer in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

and a recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Naval career

Warburton-Lee attended the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

's Staff College, Camberley, from 1931 to 1932, where

Brian Horrocks Lieutenant-General Sir Brian Gwynne Horrocks, (7 September 1895 – 4 January 1985) was a British Army officer, chiefly remembered as the commander of XXX Corps in Operation Market Garden and other operations during the Second World W ...

, later a

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

and a corps commander, was among his fellow students. Horrocks wrote that it "was the practice for a naval officer to join the course for the final year, and our sailor turned out to be that remarkable all-rounder Warburton-Lee who won the V.C. at Narvik".

Spanish Civil War

In 1936, due to the outbreak of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

and because there was fear of social unrest in the naval station, the Foreign Office in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

organized a ship to repatriate the remaining British citizens and on 22 July 1936 , captained by Warburton-Lee, departed from Ferrol in northwestern Spain for Britain.

Second World War

Warburton-Lee was 44 years old and a captain when the following action took place during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, for which he was awarded the

. On 10 April 1940 in

Ofotfjord Ofotfjord ( or ) is a fjord in Nordland county, Norway. It is an inlet of the Norwegian Sea, located about north of the Arctic Circle. The long Ofotfjord is Norway's 12th longest fjord and it is also the 18th deepest, with a maximum depth of . ...

, Narvik, Norway, in the

First Battle of Narvik The Battles of Narvik were fought from 9 April to 8 June 1940, as a naval battle in the Ofotfjord and as a land battle in the mountains surrounding the north Norwegian town of Narvik, as part of the Norwegian Campaign of the Second World War. ...

, Captain Warburton-Lee of commanded the British

2nd Destroyer Flotilla The British 2nd Destroyer Flotilla (also styled as Second Destroyer Flotilla) was a naval formation of the Royal Navy from 1909 to 1943 and again from 1945 to 1946. History The 2nd Destroyer Flotilla originated in early 1907 as a part of a Home ...

, consisting of five destroyers (HMS ''Hardy'', ''Havock'', ''Hostile'', ''Hotspur'' and ''Hunter''), in a surprise attack on German destroyers and merchant ships in a blinding snowstorm. This attack was successful, but was almost immediately followed by an engagement with five more German destroyers, during which Captain Warburton-Lee was mortally wounded by a shell which hit ''Hardy''s bridge. For his exploits in this engagement he was posthumously awarded Britain's highest decoration for valour in combat, the

. During the Second World War, only 23 Victoria Crosses were awarded to members of the Royal Navy and

Royal Naval Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...

, of whom only approximately 11 survived. In 1942 he was also, posthumously, awarded the Norwegian War Cross.

VC citation

Bernard Warburton-Lee's VC citation reads as follows: This was the first VC to be gazetted in the Second World War.

Personal life

Warburton-Lee married Elizabeth Campbell Swinton, the daughter of Captain George Swinton of Kimmerghame (see

Clan Swinton Clan Swinton is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Lowlands.Way, George and Squire, Romily. (1994). ''Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia''. (Foreword by The Rt Hon. The Earl of Elgin KT, Convenor, The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs) ...

), on 9 October 1924.

References

Bibliography

External links

Royal Navy Officers 1939−1945CWGC entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warburton-Lee, Bernard 1895 births 1940 deaths Royal Navy personnel killed in World War II British World War II recipients of the Victoria Cross Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley People from Wrexham Recipients of the War Cross (Norway) Royal Navy officers of World War I Royal Navy officers of World War II Royal Navy recipients of the Victoria Cross Welsh recipients of the Victoria Cross Welsh military personnel Burials in Norway