Noel Godfrey Chavasse

Who was Noel Godfrey Chavasse?

Captain Noel Godfrey Chavasse VC & Bar, MC was a British medical doctor and British Army officer who is one of only three people to be awarded a Victoria Cross twice.

The battlefield of Guillemont was to see acts of heroism by Captain Chavasse, the only man to be awarded the Victoria Cross twice during the First World War. In 1916, Chavasse was hit by shell splinters while rescuing men in no-man's land. It is said he got as close as 25 yards from the German line, where he found three men and continued throughout the night under a constant rain of sniper bullets and bombing. He performed similar heroics in the offensive at Passchendaele to gain a second VC and become the most highly decorated British serviceman in the war. Although operated upon, he was to die of his wounds two days later in 1917.