Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

Charles Calveley Foss, (9 March 1885 – 9 April 1953) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 ...

(VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and Commonwealth forces. A professional soldier in 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 ...

, he was awarded the VC in 1915 for his actions during the

Battle of Neuve Chapelle The Battle of Neuve Chapelle (10–13 March 1915) took place in the First World War in the Artois region of France. The attack was intended to cause a rupture in the German lines, which would then be exploited with a rush to the Aubers Ridge a ...

Early life

Charles Foss was born on 9 March 1885 in Kobe, Japan. His father, Reverend Hugh James Foss, was the Bishop of

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

. His mother, from Chester, died when he was around the age of nine. He was educated in England, where he attended Marlborough College. In 1904, he was commissioned into the

's Bedfordshire Regiment having spent the two years prior at Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in Berkshire. Posted to the regiment's 2nd Battalion, in 1912 he was promoted to captain.

First World War

On the outbreak of the First World War, Foss was serving in South Africa as adjutant of his battalion. The battalion was shortly dispatched to the Western Front, arriving at

Zeebrugge Zeebrugge (, from: ''Brugge aan zee'' meaning "Bruges at Sea", french: Zeebruges) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zee ...

in early October 1914, as part of the 21st Brigade, 7th Division, and fought in the

First Battle of Ypres The First Battle of Ypres (french: Première Bataille des Flandres; german: Erste Flandernschlacht – was a battle of the First World War, fought on the Western Front around Ypres, in West Flanders, Belgium. The battle was part of the Firs ...

later that month. By the time of the battalion's withdrawal from the frontline in early November, he was the senior surviving frontline officer. The following year he was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, ty ...

(DSO) in recognition of his service at Ypres. In early March 1915, the 7th Division was tasked with a role in the

. Foss' battalion advanced to the northwest of Neuve Chapelle on the opening day of the battle, 10 March, in support of the Royal Scots Fusiliers to the east. They held their position for the following day but on 12 March the neighbouring Royal Scots Fusiliers had to fend off an attack on their trenches by the Germans. A section of their trenches were lost. Foss led a group of men with handheld bombs on a flanking raid and was able to recapture the lost trench. It was during this raid that he performed the deed for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC). The VC, instituted in 1856, was the highest award for valour that could be bestowed on a soldier of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

. The citation reads as follows: Of the men who accompanied Foss during his attack, several were recognised with gallantry decorations; one, Private William Eade, was awarded the

Distinguished Conduct Medal The Distinguished Conduct Medal was a decoration established in 1854 by Queen Victoria for gallantry in the field by other ranks of the British Army. It is the oldest British award for gallantry and was a second level military decoration, ranki ...

and the

Order of St George The Order of Saint George (russian: Орден Святого Георгия, Orden Svyatogo Georgiya) is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. Originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) a ...

. Sergeant William Peggs was also awarded the Order of St George while a third man, Private Walter Scrivener, killed the day after Foss's action, was mentioned in despatches. The 2nd Battalion was withdrawn from the frontline on 14 March. Later in the year Foss was married to Vere Katherine , the widow of an Indian Army officer. By the time of the gazetting of his VC, Foss was serving as the brigade major of the Bedfordshire Regiment. While

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

was on an inspection tour of the 7th Division on 28 October 1915, he presented the VC to Foss. Shortly afterwards Foss was appointed a

staff officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military ...

at 20th Brigade. At the end of the year, he was mentioned in despatches, the first of five such mentions during the course of the war. Later, having been promoted to major, he was on the staff of the

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds or 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Second of arc, an angular measurement unit, ...

, then

1st Canadian Division The 1st Canadian Division (French: ''1re Division du Canada'' ) is a joint operational command and control formation based at CFB Kingston, and falls under Canadian Joint Operations Command. It is a high-readiness unit, able to move on very shor ...

s, and finally the Canadian Corps. During this time he was awarded the Order of Danilo 4th Class (Montenegro). In 1918, he instructed at a staff school in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

before returning to the Western Front shortly before the end of the war with a British infantry

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

Later life

At the conclusion of hostilities, Foss was promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel and appointed chief of staff at the 57th Division and remained in this position into 1919, at which time he went to the

Staff College Staff colleges (also command and staff colleges and War colleges) train military officers in the administrative, military staff and policy aspects of their profession. It is usual for such training to occur at several levels in a career. For e ...

at Camberley for further training. He graduated the following year. He spent five years at the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

before being given command of the

King's Liverpool Regiment The King's Regiment (Liverpool) was one of the oldest line infantry regiments of the British Army, having been formed in 1685 and numbered as the 8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot in 1751. Unlike most British Army infantry regiments, which were ...

. In 1933 he was promoted to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

and posted to

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

as commander of the Rangoon Brigade Area. He was also appointed as aide-de-camp to

. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 1937 New Year Honours. He retired the same year having achieved the rank of

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

. During the Second World War, he was a member of the home guard in

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

and also commandant of the Bedfordshire Army Cadet Force. In 1943 he was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Bedfordshire. He died on 9 April 1953 in London, survived by his second wife who he had married in 1950. His first wife had died in 1947. He is buried in West Hill Cemetery at Winchester in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

Medals

Foss' medals, which in addition to the VC, CB and DSO, included the

1914 Star The 1914 Star, colloquially known as the Mons Star, is a British World War I campaign medal for service in France or Belgium between 5 August and 22 November 1914. Institution The 1914 Star was authorised under Special Army Order no. 350 in No ...

with Mons clasp, the

British War Medal The British War Medal is a campaign medal of the United Kingdom which was awarded to officers and men of British and Imperial forces for service in the First World War. Two versions of the medal were produced. About 6.5 million were struck in si ...

, Victory Medal with Mentioned in Despatches oak leaf, Defence Medal,

War Medal 1939–1945 The War Medal 1939–1945 is a campaign medal which was instituted by the United Kingdom on 16 August 1945, for award to citizens of the British Commonwealth who had served full-time in the Armed Forces or the Merchant Navy for at least 28 days ...

George VI Coronation Medal The King George VI Coronation Medal was a commemorative medal, instituted to celebrate the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. Issue This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir of King George VI's coronation. It was awarded to t ...

and the Order of Danilo 4th Class (Montenegro) are displayed at the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regimental Gallery at the

Wardown Park Museum Wardown House Museum and Gallery formerly Wardown Park Museum and, before that, the Luton Museum & Art Gallery in Luton, is housed in a large Victorian mansion in Wardown Park on the outskirts of the town centre. The museum collection focuses ...

in Luton, Bedfordshire.

Notes

References

* *

External links

Location of grave and VC medal
''(Hampshire)'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Foss, Charles Calveley 1885 births 1953 deaths Burials in Hampshire Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment officers British Army personnel of World War I British Home Guard officers British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross British World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Companions of the Order of the Bath Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst People from Kobe Deputy Lieutenants of Bedfordshire British Army brigadiers Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley