William Hackett VC (11 June 1873 – 27 June 1916) 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 ...

, 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.

Biography

Hackett was born 11 June 1873 to John and Harriet Hackett of Nottingham;Hackett, William
Commonwealth War Graves Commission he worked as a miner for 23 years. He was married to Alice née Tooby who received the medal on his behalf, and left two children, Arthur and Mary W. Hackett. After being rejected three times by the

York and Lancaster Regiment The York and Lancaster Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1881 until 1968. The regiment was created in the Childers Reforms of 1881 by the amalgamation of the 65th (2nd Yorkshire, North Riding) Regiment ...

for being too old, Hackett enlisted in the British Army on 25 October 1915, despite having been diagnosed with a heart condition. He spent two weeks of basic training at Chatham, joining

172nd Tunnelling Company The 172nd Tunnelling Company was one of the Tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers, tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers created by the British Army during World War I. The tunnelling units were occupied in offensive and defensive minin ...

. He later served with 254th Tunnelling Company,

Corps of Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

. He was 43 years old and a

Sapper A sapper, also called a pioneer or combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing ...

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 ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

when he performed a deed for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross on 22 June/23 June 1916 at Shaftesbury Avenue Mine, near

Givenchy-lès-la-Bassée Givenchy-lès-la-Bassée is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography A farming village situated west of La Bassée, east of Béthune and southwest of Lille, at the junction of the D166 and t ...

, France. Hackett died in an attempt to help fellow miners when a tunnel collapsed at Shaftesbury Avenue Mine on 26 June 1916.''The real hero tunnellers of World War One who inspired BBC's Birdsong'', www.mirror.co.uk, 21 January 201
(online)
access date 6 July 2015

Citation

Memorials

Memorial to Sapper William Hackett VC - geograph

Hackett's name is recorded on the

Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing The Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) memorial in Belgium for missing soldiers of World War I. It commemorates men from the Allied Powers who fought on the northern Western Front outside the Ypres ...

in Berks Cemetery Extension near Ploegsteert in Hainaut, Belgium. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Royal Engineers Museum ''(Chatham, England)''. In

, the ''Tunnellers Memorial'' commemorates the action on 26 June 1916 for which Hackett was awarded the Victoria Cross. The memorial stands at the site of the Shaftesbury Shaft and the Red Dragon Crater. Its dimensions, high and wide, mirror the standard interior proportions of mine galleries constructed by the tunnelling companies in the Flanders clays. The memorial was designed by Peter Barton and unveiled on 19 June 2010.

In fiction

A tunneller with the same name, also a miner during World War I, is the main character in the 2020 movie '' The War Below'', though his eventual fate is different to that of the real Hackett.

References

External links

Tunnellers Memorial
*

Monuments to Courage David Charles Harvey (29 July 1946 – 4 March 2004) was a historian and author. He is notable for his seminal work, ''Monuments To Courage'', which documents the graves of almost all recipients of the Victoria Cross, a task that took him over 3 ...

(David Harvey, 1999) *

The Register of the Victoria Cross ''The Register of the Victoria Cross'' is a reference work that provides brief information on every Victoria Cross awarded until the publication date. Each entry provides a summary of the deed, along with a photograph of the recipient and the fo ...

(This England, 1997) * The Sapper VCs (Gerald Napier, 1998)
Royal Engineers Museum
Sappers VCs {{DEFAULTSORT:Hackett, William People from Nottingham Royal Engineers 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 1873 births 1916 deaths British coal miners English miners British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross Tunnel warfare in World War I Military personnel from Nottingham