Herbert George Columbine VC (28 November 1893 – 22 March 1918) was an

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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 previousl ...

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

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forces. Columbine was 24 years old, and a

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in the 9th Squadron,

Machine Gun Corps The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a Regiment, corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in the World War I, First World War. Th ...

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during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

when the action for which he was awarded the VC took place. On 22 March 1918 at Hervilly Wood,

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, Private Columbine took over command of a Vickers gun and kept firing it from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in an isolated position with no wire in front. During this time wave after wave of the enemy failed to get up to him, but at last with the help of a low-flying aircraft the enemy managed to gain a strong foothold in the trench. As the position was now untenable, Private Columbine told the two remaining men to get away, and although he was being bombed on either side, he kept his gun firing, inflicting losses, until he was killed by a bomb which blew him up along with his gun.

Commemoration

Columbine is named on the Pozières Memorial, in the

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department of

, to the missing of the Fifth Army. The Columbine Centre, a leisure and community centre in Walton-on-the-Naze, is named after him. The Columbine Statue Fund was set up under the patronage of Dame

Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...

to raise money for a statue to Columbine in Walton on the Naze. The statue, sculpted by John Doubleday, was erected on 1 August 2014 on the seafront at Walton on the Naze.

References

Details
*'' Monuments to Courage'' (David Harvey, 1999) *'' The Register of the Victoria Cross'' (This England, 1997) *'' VCs of the First World War: Spring Offensive 1918'' (Gerald Gliddon, 1997) 1893 births 1918 deaths Machine Gun Corps soldiers British World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross British military personnel killed in World War I British Army personnel of World War I People from Penge 19th Royal Hussars soldiers Military personnel from London British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross People from Walton-on-the-Naze Deaths by hand grenade {{UK-army-bio-stub