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THE DEATH HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED OF CAPTAIN RICHARD ANNAND VC, 2ND BN, THE DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY. THE ARMY'S FIRST VC OF WW II
28 December 2004
Captain Richard Annand, who died on the 24th December 2004, aged 90, won the Army's first Victoria Cross of the Second World War when serving with the 2nd Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry.
On the 10th of May 1940 the Luftwaffe attacked Belgium and The Netherlands, whilst paratroopers were dropped near Rotterdam and The Hague to seize key bridges over the Rhine and Meuse. The Dutch and Belgian armies were routed, the Belgians falling back to the River Dyle to join the French and British. By the evening of the 15th May the Germans had smashed a gap 50 miles wide in the French line and they were in the Allies' rear. The French and British hurried back but were too late to plug the great gap and German spearheads were racing virtually unopposed along the Somme river valley towards the English Channel.
By the middle of May 1940 a rearguard of British and French troops bravely held off German attempts to annihilate or capture the entire British Expeditionary Force ( BEF ) and those French troops still fighting or joining the evacuation from the beaches of Dunkirk. Enemy pressure eased slightly as Hitler and his Luftwaffe chief, Goering, wanted the Luftwaffe to play a major part in the defeat of the British as they tried to board the motley fleet sent to evacuate them. At this point the RAF joined the fight, keeping the Luftwaffe so busy that relatively few air attacks were made on the British evacuation. It was against this background that five British soldiers won the Victoria Cross between 15th May and 1st June 1940. Richard Annand's was the first. (*)
On 15th May 1940, 2 DLI was in a defensive position on the south side of the River Dyle, east of Brussels, with battalion headquarters established in the ominously named village of La Tombe. The German assault began shortly after dawn and Richard Annand's citation in the London Gazette for the award of the Victoria Cross, neatly sums up his heroic actions.
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[ London Gazette, 23 August 1940 ], River Dyle, Belgium, 15 - 16 May 1940, Second Lieutenant Richard Wallace Annand, 2nd Bn, The Durham Light Infantry.
For most conspicuous gallantry on the 15th-16th May 1940, when the platoon under his command was on the south side of the River Dyle, astride a blown bridge. During the night a strong attack was beaten off, but about 11 a.m. the enemy again launched a violent attack and pushed forward a bridging party into the sunken bottom of the river. Second Lieutenant Annand attacked this party, but when ammunition ran out he went forward himself over open ground, with total disregard for enemy mortar and machine-gun fire. Reaching the top of the bridge, he drove out the party below, inflicting over twenty casualties with hand grenades. Having been wounded he rejoined his platoon, had his wound dressed, and then carried on in command.
Richard Annand's platoon sergeant said later "Mr Annand came to me at platoon headquarters and asked for a box of grenades as they could hear Jerry trying to repair the bridge, Off he went and he sure must have given them a lovely time because it wasn't a great while before he was back for more".
During the evening another attack was launched and again Second Lieutenant Annand went forward with hand grenades and inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy. When the order to withdraw was received, he withdrew his platoon, but learning on the way back that his batman was wounded and had been left behind, he returned at once to the former position and brought him back in a wheelbarrow, before losing consciousness as the result of wounds.
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For two days Annand jolted through France in a Belgian hospital train without food or water. He no sooner arrived at the hospital in Calais than it had to be evacuated. He was put aboard the first of two hospital ships, the second was bombed and sunk.
As a result of wounds received in the action in Belgium in May 1940, Annand was invalided back to England but rejoined the re-formed 2nd Battalion at Bridlington the following month. However, in June 1941, as a result of rifle practice on the ranges, Richard Annand lost what remained of his hearing and was discharged from the Battalion. He spent the rest of the war in several army posts in such diverse places as Inverness-shire, the Cairngorms and London. Although offered a commission in the Pay Corps, he declined, and in 1948 he was invalided out of the Army.
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Medal entitlement of Captain Richard Annand - 2nd Bn, Durham Light Infantry ( not confirmed )
Victoria Cross
1939 - 45 Star
Defence Medal - ( 1939-45 )
War Medal - ( 1939-45 )
Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal ( 1953 )
Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubiliee Medal ( 1977 )
Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubiliee Medal ( 2002 )
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(*) The other four VC recipients during this period were:
Warrant Officer II George Gristock - Royal Norfolk Regiment
Lieutenant Harold Ervine-Andrews - East Lancashire Regiment
Lance Corporal Harry Nichols - Grenadier Guards
Lieutenant The Honourable Christopher Furness - Welsh Guards
28 December 2004
Captain Richard Annand, who died on the 24th December 2004, aged 90, won the Army's first Victoria Cross of the Second World War when serving with the 2nd Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry.
On the 10th of May 1940 the Luftwaffe attacked Belgium and The Netherlands, whilst paratroopers were dropped near Rotterdam and The Hague to seize key bridges over the Rhine and Meuse. The Dutch and Belgian armies were routed, the Belgians falling back to the River Dyle to join the French and British. By the evening of the 15th May the Germans had smashed a gap 50 miles wide in the French line and they were in the Allies' rear. The French and British hurried back but were too late to plug the great gap and German spearheads were racing virtually unopposed along the Somme river valley towards the English Channel.
By the middle of May 1940 a rearguard of British and French troops bravely held off German attempts to annihilate or capture the entire British Expeditionary Force ( BEF ) and those French troops still fighting or joining the evacuation from the beaches of Dunkirk. Enemy pressure eased slightly as Hitler and his Luftwaffe chief, Goering, wanted the Luftwaffe to play a major part in the defeat of the British as they tried to board the motley fleet sent to evacuate them. At this point the RAF joined the fight, keeping the Luftwaffe so busy that relatively few air attacks were made on the British evacuation. It was against this background that five British soldiers won the Victoria Cross between 15th May and 1st June 1940. Richard Annand's was the first. (*)
On 15th May 1940, 2 DLI was in a defensive position on the south side of the River Dyle, east of Brussels, with battalion headquarters established in the ominously named village of La Tombe. The German assault began shortly after dawn and Richard Annand's citation in the London Gazette for the award of the Victoria Cross, neatly sums up his heroic actions.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ London Gazette, 23 August 1940 ], River Dyle, Belgium, 15 - 16 May 1940, Second Lieutenant Richard Wallace Annand, 2nd Bn, The Durham Light Infantry.
For most conspicuous gallantry on the 15th-16th May 1940, when the platoon under his command was on the south side of the River Dyle, astride a blown bridge. During the night a strong attack was beaten off, but about 11 a.m. the enemy again launched a violent attack and pushed forward a bridging party into the sunken bottom of the river. Second Lieutenant Annand attacked this party, but when ammunition ran out he went forward himself over open ground, with total disregard for enemy mortar and machine-gun fire. Reaching the top of the bridge, he drove out the party below, inflicting over twenty casualties with hand grenades. Having been wounded he rejoined his platoon, had his wound dressed, and then carried on in command.
Richard Annand's platoon sergeant said later "Mr Annand came to me at platoon headquarters and asked for a box of grenades as they could hear Jerry trying to repair the bridge, Off he went and he sure must have given them a lovely time because it wasn't a great while before he was back for more".
During the evening another attack was launched and again Second Lieutenant Annand went forward with hand grenades and inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy. When the order to withdraw was received, he withdrew his platoon, but learning on the way back that his batman was wounded and had been left behind, he returned at once to the former position and brought him back in a wheelbarrow, before losing consciousness as the result of wounds.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For two days Annand jolted through France in a Belgian hospital train without food or water. He no sooner arrived at the hospital in Calais than it had to be evacuated. He was put aboard the first of two hospital ships, the second was bombed and sunk.
As a result of wounds received in the action in Belgium in May 1940, Annand was invalided back to England but rejoined the re-formed 2nd Battalion at Bridlington the following month. However, in June 1941, as a result of rifle practice on the ranges, Richard Annand lost what remained of his hearing and was discharged from the Battalion. He spent the rest of the war in several army posts in such diverse places as Inverness-shire, the Cairngorms and London. Although offered a commission in the Pay Corps, he declined, and in 1948 he was invalided out of the Army.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Medal entitlement of Captain Richard Annand - 2nd Bn, Durham Light Infantry ( not confirmed )
Victoria Cross
1939 - 45 Star
Defence Medal - ( 1939-45 )
War Medal - ( 1939-45 )
Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal ( 1953 )
Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubiliee Medal ( 1977 )
Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubiliee Medal ( 2002 )
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(*) The other four VC recipients during this period were:
Warrant Officer II George Gristock - Royal Norfolk Regiment
Lieutenant Harold Ervine-Andrews - East Lancashire Regiment
Lance Corporal Harry Nichols - Grenadier Guards
Lieutenant The Honourable Christopher Furness - Welsh Guards
