VCs of the First World War Gallipoli

by Stephen Snelling

  At this moment he perceived Squadron-Commander Davies descending and fearing that he would come down near the burning machine and thus risk destruction from the bomb, Flight Sub-Lieutenant Smylie ran back and from a short distance exploded the bomb by means of a pistol bullet. Squadron-Commander Davies descended at a safe distance from the burning machine, took up Sub-Lieutenant Smylie, in spite of the near approach of a party of the enemy, and returned to the aerodrome, a feat of airmanship that can seldom have been equalled for skill and gallantry.

  Davies arrived back in England shortly after the announcement of his VC, following the British abandonment of the peninsula. Promoted wing commander, he went on leave before taking up his new appointment as district commander of RNAS stations in northern England. Three months later, on 15 April, he went to Buckingham Palace to receive his Cross from George V.

  Richard Bell Davies, one of the pioneers of naval aviation, was born on 19 May 1886, at 3 Topstone Road, Kensington, the son of William Bell Davies and his wife Mary Emma (née Beale). Both his father, a successful civil engineer, and his mother died before he was six years old. The young orphan was brought up by his mother’s brother, Dr Edwin Beale, a throat and chest specialist at the Victoria Park and Great Northern hospitals.

  Educated at Bradfield College, Davies enlisted in the Royal Navy on 20 April 1901 as a cadet on HMS Britannia, Dartmouth. It was the sight of aerial pioneer Claude Grahame-White’s flight at the fleet’s summer manoeuvres of 1910 that helped shape the rest of his life. That autumn he accepted an offer of flying lessons to naval officers. But by the time he arrived, the privately owned aircraft had been taken over by the Admiralty. Fearing he would not be selected for training, Davies undertook a course of private instruction. Under the tutelage of Grahame-White, he qualified during his Easter leave. His flying certificate was British Empire No. 90.

  Davies had to wait until 1913 to fulfil his ambition of joining the Navy’s fledgling air service. It was while at the Naval Flying School at Eastchurch that he first came into contact with Acting Cdr. Samson, then the base commander. Davies swiftly made an impression and his rapid progress was marked by his appointment as first lieutenant at Eastchurch shortly after qualifying as a ‘flying officer’. By the close of 1913 Davies was a squadron commander in the Royal Flying Corps, Naval Wing. Following a brief spell in Somaliland, where he reported on the viability of using aircraft to quell the ‘Mad Mullah’, Davies returned to Eastchurch, arriving shortly before the outbreak of war.

  Davies became a member of Samson’s mobile squadron, later officially styled No. 3 Squadron, RNAS. The unit flew out to Ostend at the end of August and there followed a nomadic existence during which their exploits made Samson one of the war’s first heroes. Forced by the speed of the German advance to repeatedly move their landing fields, the squadron’s pilots carried out a variety of missions, from reconnaissances to attacks on military installations. Davies was fully engaged in these operations. On 20 December he carried out a solo bombing raid against a suspected airship shed at Brussels. A month later, together with Flt. Lt. R.E.C. Peirse, he took part in a gallant sortie against the German submarine base at Zeebrugge, which resulted in both pilots being admitted to the Distinguished Service Order. Their joint citation stated:

  These officers have repeatedly attacked the German submarine stations at Ostend and Zeebrugge, being subjected on each occasion to heavy and accurate fire, their machines being frequently hit. In particular, on 23rd January, they each discharged eight bombs in an attack upon submarines alongside the Mole at Zeebrugge, flying down to close range. At the outset of this fight, Lieutenant Davies was severely wounded by a bullet in the thigh, but nevertheless he accomplished his task, handling his machine for an hour with great skill in spite of pain and loss of blood.

  By the time the awards were gazetted, on 10 April, Davies was fully recovered and stationed on the island of Tenedos in preparation for the operations at Gallipoli. Following the failure of the campaign, Davies was appointed, in early 1916, to the reformed 3 Wing, RNAS. From its base in France, the unit, which was to form the nucleus of Britain’s first strategic bombing force, launched a series of raids against German industrial targets. As the wing’s chief of flying operations, Davies directed and flew on a number of these missions.

  Promoted senior flying officer of the Grand Fleet the following year, he took command of air operations from the seaplane carrier HMS Campania. Davies was heavily involved in the development of the Navy’s first aircraft carriers and in July 1918 he helped plan the audacious raid by seaborne Sopwith Camels on the airship sheds at Tondern. In recognition of his involvement in the development of the early aircraft carriers, which included carrying out a number of dangerous, experimental flights, Davies was awarded an Air Force Cross. His war services were further recognised by the French, who made him a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour and awarded him the Croix de Guerre avec Palme.

  Davies was appointed lieutenant colonel in the Royal Air Force on the formation of the new service in April 1918. But in May 1919 he returned to the Navy. Promoted commander, he was head of the Naval Air Section from August 1920 to February 1924.

  On 29 September 1920 he married Mary Montgomery, only daughter of Maj.-Gen. Sir Kerr Montgomery KCMG, CB, DSO. They had one daughter, and a son who followed him into the Navy.

  After his four-year term in command of the Naval Air Section, Davies returned to general service as executive officer of HMS Royal Sovereign. For the next thirteen years he balanced air service with sea-going commands, rising to the rank of flag captain and chief staff officer to the rear-admiral commanding the First Cruiser Squadron. He was promoted commodore of the RN Barracks, Devonport, before becoming the first rear-admiral, Naval Air Stations in 1937.

  Davies retired in 1941 with the rank of vice-admiral, but shortly afterwards returned to active service as a convoy commodore. Given command of HMS Dasher, an escort carrier under construction, Davies was recalled to the Admiralty before the vessel became operational. In 1943, however, Davies was given a new command; the Pretoria Castle, a Union Castle liner which was in the process of being converted to an aircraft carrier. After the work was completed, the ship was used for aircraft landing experiments and, much to Davies’ disappointment, her only active employment was as a convoy escort between Scapa Flow and Iceland. In 1944 Davies retired for the second and last time. His final honour was to be appointed a Companion of the Bath. His last twenty years were spent in peaceful retirement. Shortly before his death in Haslar Naval Hospital, on 26 February 1966, he completed his memoirs, which were posthumously published as Sailor in the Air. His account, reflecting his genuine modesty, made no mention of his Victoria Cross award.

  In a remarkable career, Richard Bell Davies played a leading and influential role in the development of the naval air arm from its pioneering days at Eastchurch through to its dominant status in maritime strategy. Yet it might be said that his finest epitaph came from the pen of his former chief and friend, Charles Samson. Writing of Davies in 1930, he declared:

  He was a splendid fellow … No one could have had a more loyal second-in-command than I had, and to a large extent the happiness of the Squadron was due to his tact and popularity, a man without any conceit or selfishness, a brilliant pilot, and a doughty man of war if ever there was one.

  A.V. SMITH

  Fusilier Bluff, Helles sector, 23 December 1915

  2nd Lt. A.V. Smith

  In the days leading up to Christmas 1915 Allied morale on the peninsula was at its lowest ebb. Celebration at the successful evacuations of the garrisons at Suvla Bay and Anzac Cove had given way to disillusionment. No amount of praise for the withdrawal of men and material from beneath the very noses of the Turks could disguise the abject failure of the operations at Gallipoli. To the weary troops occupying the Helles sector, the Allies’ last remaining toehold, the future appeared bleak. Worn down by the appalling climate and unsettling rumours of an imminent withdrawal, they faced the wretche
d prospect of facing an enemy greatly reinforced and with its morale significantly raised by the Allies’ admission of defeat in the northern sectors.

  To counteract the obvious Turkish advantages, Lt. Gen. Sir F.J. Davies (GOC, VIII Corps) ordered his divisional commanders to maintain an active and aggressive defence. The Turks were to be driven out of their positions by trench mortars, catapults and grenades, and the British line pushed forward by sapping, mining and by the capture of key points. It was with this purpose in mind, and amid an atmosphere of uncertainty about the fate of the Helles garrison, that 2nd Lt. Victor Smith led a bombing party from the 1/5th East Lancashires into an advanced post at Fusilier Bluff, in the northernmost corner of the British lines, on 22 December.

  The previous fortnight had been a busy one for the 24-year-old East Lancashire territorial officer. While politicians and generals argued over how best to extricate the troops from what they perceived to be the Gallipolian quagmire, Smith, a pre-war Blackpool police inspector, was doing his best to carry out his Corps commander’s orders.

  On the night of 10–11 December he carried out a solo patrol in front of his battalion’s positions on Fusilier Bluff. What he later described as ‘a little reconnaissance I carried out on my own over the top one night’, involved crawling across the pitted ground separating the opposing lines and creeping along the Turkish parapet, taking care to duck beneath the numerous snipers’ loopholes. Returning safely, he brought with him valuable information about the Turkish defences. The mission resulted in an official commendation from Maj.-Gen. W. Douglas (GOC, 42nd East Lancashire Division), who praised him for his ‘gallant action’.

  Smith barely had time to send the general’s congratulatory card to his parents before his unit was engaged again. With the evacuation of the Anzac and Suvla Bay garrisons nearing its miraculous conclusion, the 1/5th East Lancashires were ordered to carry out one of a number of small-scale attacks along the Helles front, with the intention of diverting Turkish attention away from events in the north. In the early afternoon of 19 December, mines were exploded opposite Fusilier Bluff. Parties of the 9th and 10th Manchesters, supported by bombers from the 1/5th East Lancashires and the West Lancashire RE Company, immediately rushed across the open. Some of the men reached to within a few feet of the Turkish positions, but finding that no crater had been formed they were forced to withdraw. Reports of the operation make no mention of 2nd Lt. Smith, but as brigade bombing officer, a post he had held since October, it is highly probable he was involved. Sgt. Ingham Ridehalgh, his bombing sergeant during the campaign, later testified to his officer’s courageous and forceful leadership. He was, said Ridehalgh, always to the front, always the first to start bombing. In short, he asserted Smith to be the bravest man he had seen on the peninsula.

  Three days after the unsuccessful assault, Smith prepared for another bombing ‘stunt’ at the bluff. He fondly imagined it would be his last spell in the line before his unit was relieved. In a letter to his parents in which he reassured them about his health, he wrote: ‘All being well on Christmas Day we shall not be in the trenches.’ His task on 22 December was to make life as uncomfortable as possible for the Turkish troops opposite the Lancastrians’ position by showering them with bombs. It was, by any standards, a routine operation, though not without its own hazards. Smith, however, was well versed in such missions. On one occasion his bombers were said to have thrown upwards of 700 bombs in a single night in an attempt to destroy Turkish fire screens and so-called ‘bird-cages’, wire mesh covers designed to protect troops against grenades and raiding parties. As was customary, the bombing was to be carried out at night, presumably to incur maximum psychological damage as well as physical destruction.

  It had been a quiet day at Fusilier Bluff on 22 December. Although the weather was cold, the rain which had been making life in the trenches so uncomfortable for friend and foe alike had abated. The recent downpours, however, had left the trenches muddy and slippery, a factor which would play a profound part in the subsequent action. Smith’s party, including one other officer, were in position before midnight. It would appear that the Turks were the first to start bombing, although it is unclear whether the Lancastrian bombers were sent in as a retaliatory measure or that their mission had been simply pre-empted. Precise details of the bombing operation are not recorded. It is not known how many grenades were thrown, nor is the duration of the bomb fight recorded anywhere. Smith, as usual, was leading by example. Countless bombs were hurled, almost in the manner of a training exercise. But then tragedy struck. As he prepared to throw a bomb over the parapet, Smith slipped and fell and in that moment the bomb rolled from his hand on to the floor of the trench. As an experienced bombing officer, he knew he had less than five seconds to react. Shouting a warning in the darkened bay, he instinctively made to run towards the cover of a nearby traverse. But as he did so, he noticed that some men had been unable to reach safety. In that moment, he made up his mind. He turned and threw himself on the bomb moments before it exploded, killing him instantly.

  According to the terse entry in the war diary of the 1/5th East Lancashires, Smith’s act of supreme self-sacrifice occurred at 12.30 a.m. on 23 December. At 4.00 p.m. that same day, he was buried at the head of Y Ravine in what the battalion chaplain described as a ‘beautiful soldiers’ cemetery near the summit of the more southerly hillside that bounds the ravine known as Y ravine, which slopes downwards to Y Beach and the Aegean Sea’. On the cross above his grave was the simple inscription: ‘He gave his life to save others’.

  From beginning to tragic end, Smith’s act of gallantry had lasted but a few seconds. Yet the indelible impression it made on those who had witnessed it and, as news spread, the whole Allied garrison was both deep and heartfelt. It was as if the desperate courage of this young officer, so near the end of the fighting, had come to symbolise the sacrifice shown by countless others throughout the doomed campaign. References to his action featured repeatedly in soldiers’ letters home. Most of them had only heard tell of the incident. Company Sgt. Maj. A. Green, of the 9th Manchesters, was one of the few able to write from personal experience. To his wife, he wrote:

  If you said your prayers for me … they were answered, for on the night of the 22nd I was on duty in the trench ten yards away from the Turks who were bombing us awful. When I arrived at 12 o’clock two officers had come to throw bombs back at the Turks. There would be 15 or 16 of us in the trench, when a bomb fell from one of the officer’s hands. I stood directly behind them, and one of them, whose name was Lieut Smith … saw that we could not all get away, and he threw himself deliberately on the bomb to save us either from death or at least being crippled for life. He was killed instantly and only two others were slightly wounded. He gave his life for us. I have had some narrow squeaks, but none worse than that, as it would have cleared out the lot of us.

  There were many others to testify to 2nd Lt. Smith’s last act. Writing to Smith’s parents, Lt. Col. W.M. Acton (CO, 1/5th East Lancashires) declared: ‘It is a short story, but the military history of any nation can tell of no finer deed, and to lose him in this way must leave his parents the proudest in the universe.’ Another fellow officer wrote: ‘He died to save the lives of others – the bravest most magnificent sacrifice I have ever heard of… .’ He went on to explain: ‘A fatigue party was coming along, and to save them Victor threw his body on the bomb and was riddled by the explosion. If he doesn’t get the VC, then no one should have it.’

  It was a sentiment shared by everyone, from humble private to exalted general. Brig. Gen. A.W. Tufnell, who had taken command of the 126th Brigade a fortnight after Smith’s death, attempted to rationalise the action. Writing to Smith’s parents, he said:

  Possibly, he may have thought that he could still extinguish it; possibly he had no time to consider whether there was such a possibility; more likely he deliberately forfeited his life to save others from death and injury. Whatever his thoughts and decision may have been, his act was one of
bravery such as I personally have never heard surpassed … His name has gone forward with strong recommendation for the award of the Victoria Cross.

  Reports of the official moves to honour the young officer appeared in the Press in his parents’ home town of Burnley, where his father was chief constable. Tributes from soldiers and civilians alike poured in. The homage was led by the king himself. A letter from the Keeper of the Privy Purse stated:

  His Majesty has read with feelings of admiration the record of Lieutenant Smith’s noble conduct and splendid self-sacrifice, and cannot but feel the manifestations of admiration on the part of all classes of the community will in some degree lighten your burden and prove a lasting solace in years to come.

  With the benefit of hindsight, it is impossible to escape the conclusion that the posthumous award of the Victoria Cross to 2nd Lt. Smith was anything other than a foregone conclusion. The citation stated:

  For most conspicuous bravery. He was in the act of throwing a grenade when it slipped from his hand and fell to the bottom of the trench, close to several of our officers and men. He immediately shouted a warning, and himself jumped clear into safety; but, seeing that the officers and men were unable to get into cover, and knowing well that the grenade was due to explode, he returned without hesitation and flung himself on it. He was instantly killed by the explosion. His magnificent act of self-sacrifice undoubtedly saved many lives.

  Four days later, Gen. V. d’Urbal (GOC, Xth French Army Corps) broke with convention and published a general order to his troops citing 2nd Lt. Smith’s gallant action. It concluded: ‘The General commanding the Xth Army considers this act of sacrifice performed by one of our brave Allies is well worthy of being brought to the notice of all’.