Arthur Herbert Procter VC (11 August 1890 – 27 January 1973) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

forces.

Early life and family

He was born in 1890, son of Arthur Richard Procter and his wife Ellen Cumpsty. He was educated at schools in Port Sunlight and

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

.
Tribute from "The Tameside Citizen". Beginning employment at Liverpool Corn Exchange, he was a clerk in the provision trade from 1904 until 1914, when in November he enlisted in the King's Liverpool Regiment after the outbreak of the First World War. In 1917 Procter married Hilda Codd in Birkenhead. The couple had three sons.

Award

He was 25 years old, and a private in the 1/5th Battalion, the King's Regiment (Liverpool) (part of the

55th (West Lancashire) Division The 55th (West Lancashire) Division was an infantry division of the British Army's Territorial Force (TF) that saw extensive combat during the First World War. It was raised initially in 1908 as the West Lancashire Division. Following the out ...

, British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. On 4 June 1916 near Ficheux, France, Private Procter noticed some movement on the part of two wounded men who were lying in full view of the enemy about 15 yards in front of the trenches. He at once went out on his own initiative and, although heavily fired at, ran and crawled to the two men, got them under cover of a small bank dressed their wounds and promised that they would be rescued after dark. He left them with warm clothing and then returned to the trenches, again being heavily fired at. The men were rescued at dusk. Procter was the first British soldier to be decorated with the VC on the battlefield.''Battle of the Somme – 100 Years'' feature by Toby Neal; 'County' in this context referring to Shropshire although he did not yet live there.

Further information

After demobilisation in 1918, he returned to the provision trade where he worked as a salesman until 1926, when he took up full-time study for Church of England ministry at

St Aidan's College, Birkenhead St Aidan’s College was a Church of England theological college in Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, open from 1847 to 1970. History The college was founded in 1846 by Revd Dr Joseph Baylee, vicar of Birkenhead, with the approval of John Bir ...

. He was ordained a deacon in 1927 and priest in 1928, while serving a curacy at

St Mary's, Prescot Prescot Parish Church, also known as St Mary's Church, is in the town of Prescot, Merseyside, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is an active Anglican parish church ...

, Lancashire. From 1931 to 1933 he was Vicar of Bosley, and of St Stephen's, Flowery Field, Hyde, (both then in Cheshire) from 1933 to 1944. In the Second World War he served as a chaplain in the Royal Air Force from 1941 to 1946. After the war he was successively Rector of St Mary, Droylsden, Manchester, from 1946 to 1951; Vicar of Claybrooke with Wibtoft,

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

from 1951 to 1963, and of

Bradworthy Bradworthy is a village and civil parish in Devon, England. The village is close to the site of the first wind turbines in Devon, erected in 2005. Bradworthy has the largest village square in England. The civil parish is bordered by the Devon pa ...

, Devon from 1963 to 1964. After retiring from full-time ministry, he lived in the later 1960s at

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

, Shropshire, where he was chaplain to the town's

British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants, as well as all others in ne ...

branch and in 1966 he was one of seven winners of the VC who were invited by the Minister of Defence to attend the 50th anniversary

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

celebrations in France. He later moved to Sheffield. He died on 27 January 1973, aged 82, in Sheffield. He was cremated at Sheffield Crematorium in City Road and his ashes buried in All Saints Chapel at Sheffield Cathedral.

Legacy

Procter VC memorial at Birkenhead Cenotaph

Blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

s have been erected to him by Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council at St Mary's Church, Droylsden, and St Stephen's Church, Hyde.
Tameside Blue Plaques list. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the

Museum of the King's Regiment The Museum of Liverpool Life was a Museum in Liverpool, England, part of National Museums Liverpool, that focused on the contribution that the people of Liverpool made to national life. It closed in 2005 and was replaced by the Museum of Liv ...

, Liverpool, England.

References

External links