Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

John Fox Russell, VC, MC (27 January 1893 – 6 November 1917) was a Welsh physician, a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer and a 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 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. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

forces.

Early life and education

Russell was born in

Holyhead Holyhead (; , "Cybi's fort") is a historic port town, and is the list of Anglesey towns by population, largest town and a Community (Wales), community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales. Holyhead is on Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island ...

Anglesey Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...

, on 27 January 1893 to William Fox Russell and Ethel Maria Fox Russell. At an early age, he passed the examination for a choristership at

Magdalen College School, Oxford Magdalen College School (MCS) is a private day school in the British public school tradition located in Oxford, England, for boys aged seven to eighteen and for girls in the sixth form (i.e. ages sixteen to eighteen). It was founded by Willia ...

, where he was educated for three years before attending

St. Bees School St Bees School is a co-educational fee-charging school, located in the West Cumbrian village of St Bees, England. In 1583, it was founded by Edmund Grindal, the Archbishop of Canterbury, as a free grammar school for boys. The school remaine ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

. While at School he was an enthusiastic member of the Officer Training Corps. He was also a member of the 1st Holyhead Scout Troop, Wolf Patrol.

Military career

Russell joined the

Middlesex Hospital Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, England. First opened as the Middlesex Infirmary in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally clos ...

when only sixteen years of age and it was while he was in London that he joined the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

Officers 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 ...

, obtaining a commission in the

Royal Welch Fusiliers The Royal Welch Fusiliers () was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales's Division, that was founded in 1689, shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designated a fusilier regiment and becam ...

in 1914. He was with them in camp when war was declared. Being anxious to qualify, he was seconded in order to complete his medical studies. After obtaining his diplomas, he joined the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was a specialist corps in the British Army which provided medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. On 15 November 2024, the corps was amalgamated with the Royal Army De ...

and was attached to a battery of the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It was created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of the regiment, the ...

. He later re-joined his old regiment R.W.F 1st/6th Battalion (Anglesey and Caernarvonshire) and went out to Egypt as medical officer. In the

First Battle of Gaza The First Battle of Gaza was fought on 26 March 1917 during the first attempt by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF), which was a British Empire military formation, formed on 10 March 1916 under the command of General Archibald Murray from th ...

, Russell won the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

. He was subsequently awarded the

at Tel-el-Khuwwilfeh,

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

. The citation for the award read: Russell was

killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...

on 6 November 1917 and is buried at the

Beersheba Beersheba ( / ; ), officially Be'er-Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most p ...

War Cemetery. A memorial to him and two other VC recipients, Captain

Leefe Robinson William Leefe Robinson Victoria Cross, VC (14 July 1895 – 31 December 1918) was the first British pilot to shoot down a German airship over Britain during the World War I, First World War. For this, he was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC), ...

of the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

and Captain Richard Wain of the Tank Corps, was erected at

St Bees School St Bees School is a co-educational fee-charging school, located in the West Cumbrian village of St Bees, England. In 1583, it was founded by Edmund Grindal, the Archbishop of Canterbury, as a free grammar school for boys. The school remain ...

. Russell's

is on display at the

Army Medical Services Museum The Museum of Military Medicine, formerly the Army Medical Services Museum (AMS Museum), is located in Keogh Barracks, on Mytchett Place Road, Mytchett, Surrey, England. History The museum is based on the "Mytchett Collection", a collection o ...

, in the Defence Medical Services Training Centre, Keogh Barracks, Mytchett Place Road,

Mytchett Mytchett is a village in the borough of Surrey Heath, in Surrey, England. It is approximately south-west of central London and to the east of Farnborough, its nearest town. Much of the village dates from the first half of the twentieth centu ...

, in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. In 2022 the newly built Headquarters of both Clwyd and Gwynedd ACF and a detachment of 203 Field Hospital at Kinmel Camp in Bodelwyddan was named Ty John Fox-Russell VC MC in his honour. image:St Bees School VC memorial.jpg, The VC memorial in

chapel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, John British World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross British military personnel killed in World War I Royal Army Medical Corps officers British Army personnel of World War I Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Welch Fusiliers officers 1893 births 1917 deaths Military personnel from Anglesey People educated at St Bees School People from Holyhead Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross Welsh recipients of the Victoria Cross