Captain Noel Chavasse VC - WW1's Only Double Victoria Cross

Noel Chavasse, from Liverpool, the only man to be awarded 2 Victoria Crosses in WW1.
Also only one of three men to receive this honour.

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In over 160 years since the Victoria Cross (the UK's highest medal for valour) was instituted, it has been awarded just over 1350 times.
However, only three men have ever been awarded the VC twice.

This is the story of one of those rare men.
A war hero who not only achieved that distinction but who was also doctor with a first class degree from Oxford University, and who represented his country at the Olympics.

This is the story of Captain Noel Chavasse VC, the only double VC winner in the First World War.

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Noel Chavasse gained a first class degree from Oxford University before studying medicine and (along with his twin brother) representing Great Britain at the 1908 Olympics.

Commissioned in the Royal Army Medical Corps, when the First World War broke out he was attached to the 10th battalion (Liverpool Scottish) of the King's Regiment.

He saw action at the Battle of Hooge in 1915 when he saved 20 wounded men by going out into no mans land during the night. He was awarded the Victoria Cross.

In 1916 he was awarded the Victoria Cross for courageously going out under fire to once more rescue wounded soldiers during the Battle of the Somme.

At the Battle of Passchendaele (third battle of Ypres) in 1917, he worked tirelessly for 48 hours tending the injured.
When his first aid post was hit by a German shell, Noel Chavasse crawled over half a mile (despite being mortally wounded) to fetch help for his men.

For this courageous act, he was awarded a second Victoria Cross, thus becoming the only double VC winner in the First World War.

Captain Noel Chavasse VC died of his wounds and is buried in a military cemetery outside Ypres in Belgium.

Chavasse Park in Liverpool is named in his honour.
His father was the Bishop of Liverpool and Noel Chavasse (whilst born in Oxford) spent his teenage and early adult years in the city.

Chapters
0:00 Introduction
1:36 Early life
3:28 1908 Olympics
5:34 Royal Army Medical Corps
7:07 Battle of Hooge
7:55 Engagement
9:05 Battle of the Somme
11:26 First Victoria Cross
13:08 Battle of Passchendaele
15:39 Death
16:46 Double VC winner
17:45 Memorials
18:31 Chavasse grave
19:02 The History Chap

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My name is Chris Green and I am on a mission to share stories from British history. Not just because they are interesting but because, good or bad, they have shaped the world we live in today.

History should not be stuffy or a long list of dates or kings & queens.
So rather than lectures or Youtube animations, I tell stories that bring the past to life.

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Just for the record, I do have a history degree in Medieval & Modern history from the University of Birmingham.

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