Arthur Borton

Who was Arthur Borton?

Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Drummond Borton VC CMG DSO 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 forces.

Borton was born at Cheveney, Kent to British officer Arthur Close Borton, the elderst son of Sir Arthur Borton and Adelaide Beatrice Drummond, a grandchild of Robert Kaye Greville.Borton was educated at Eton College and Sandhurst, before being commissioned into the King's Royal Rifle Corps in 1902 with whom he served in the Second Boer War. In 1908 he left the Army as unfit for general service.

At the start of the First World War, Borton was fruit farming in the United States. He returned to England and re-joined The King’s Royal Rifles in 1914. After further service with the regiment he became an observer with The Royal Flying Corps in France where he broke his neck in three places and was declared unfit when his aircraft crashed. Despite this he went to Gallipoli as a Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve where he won the DSO serving with the RNAS Armoured Cars.