Arthur Walderne St Clair Tisdall VC (21 July 1890 – 6 May 1915) was a British recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

, 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. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

forces.

Life

Tisdall was born in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

in 1890, and after emigrating attended

Bedford School Bedford School is a 7–18 Single-sex education, boys Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the county town of Bedford in England. Founded in 1552, it is the oldest of four independent schools in Bedford run by the Harpur Trust. Bed ...

from 1900 to 1909. He went to university at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, where he rowed and attended the

Officer Training Corps The University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), also known as the Officers' Training Corps (OTC), are British Army reserve units, under the command of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, which recruit exclusively from universities and focus on ...

in his spare time. He attained a double first in classics. Tisdall joined the

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Roya ...

when he was 24 years old, at the outbreak of the First World War. He enlisted as an

Able Seaman An able seaman (AB) is a seaman and member of the deck department of a merchant ship with more than two years' experience at sea and considered "well acquainted with his duty". An AB may work as a watchstander, a day worker, or a combination ...

at HMS ''President'', the home of the London Division of the

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 ...

, but was soon promoted to Sub Lieutenant. On the first day of the Gallipoli landings (25 April 1915) at

V Beach The landing at Cape Helles () was part of the Gallipoli campaign, the amphibious landings on the Gallipoli peninsula by British and French forces on 25 April 1915 during the First World War. Cape Helles, Helles, at the foot of the peninsula, wa ...

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

, during the landing from SS ''River Clyde'', Tisdall heard wounded men on the beach calling for help. The men were under heavy machine gun fire from entrenched Turkish forces. He jumped into the water, and pushing a boat in front of him, went to their rescue. He found, however, that he could not manage alone, but managed to enlist the help of first one, and then three more naval personnel. They made five trips from the ship to the shore and were responsible for rescuing several wounded men under heavy and accurate fire, until darkness forced them to stop. He was

mortally wounded : A mortal wound is an injury that will ultimately lead to a person's death. ''Mortal'' refers to the mortality of a human: whether they are going to live or die."mortal_adjective." Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. 2018. Oxford University ...

by a sniper during the

Second Battle of Krithia The Second Battle of Krithia () continued the Allies' attempts to advance on the Helles battlefield during the Battle of Gallipoli of the First World War. The village of Krithia and neighbouring hill of Achi Baba had to be captured in order f ...

Achi Baba Achi Baba () is a height dominating the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey, located in Çanakkale Province.''Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary'', p. 5 Achi Baba was the main position of the Ottoman Turkish defenses in 1915 during the World War I ...

on 6 May 1915, and was buried where he fell, but today has no known grave.

References

Bibliography

* * ''

VCs of the First World War - The Naval VCs ''VCs of the First World War'' is a series of books that list the Victoria Cross recipients of the First World War. The series consists of 13 books written by four different authors, first published under the label Sutton Publishing Limited, par ...

'' (Stephen Snelling, 2002)

External links

Burial location of Arthur Tisdall
"Turkey"

"Arthur Tisdall's Victoria Cross sold privately"
Tisdall Memorial HMS President
VC and other decorations still on display at HMS President RNR London HQ (2006) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tisdall, Arthur 1890 births 1915 deaths People educated at Bedford School British Gallipoli campaign recipients of the Victoria Cross British military personnel killed in World War I Military personnel from Mumbai Royal Navy recipients of the Victoria Cross Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War I Royal Navy officers of World War I Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Military personnel of British India