Christopher Augustus Cox
Encyclopedia
Christopher Augustus Cox VC
(25 December 1889 - 28 April 1959) was an English
recipient of the Victoria Cross
.
in the 7th Battalion, The Bedfordshire Regiment, British Army
. He went to France in July 1915 and spent nearly two years in the trenches, first on the Somme near Albert. He was wounded on the first day of the Somme offensive. He was at Thiepval in September 1916 and participated in the Bihucourt assault in March 1917, which is where he won the Victoria Cross.
, France
, during an attack by the battalion, the front wave was checked by very heavy artillery and machine gun fire and the whole line had to take shelter in shell holes. Cox, a stretcher-bearer, went out over fire-swept ground and single-handedly rescued four men. Having collected the wounded of his own battalion he then helped to bring in the wounded of the adjoining battalion. On two subsequent days he carried out similar work with complete disregard for his own safety.
His family expanded to 8 children and 14 grandchildren. He died on 28 April 1959 at age 69. His Victoria Cross is currently on display at the Imperial War Museum
, London, England.
village celebrated Christopher Augustus Cox's life and daring deeds in a village ceremony. The High Street was closed to traffic to allow a marching piping
band, standard bearers, ex service men and women, local dignitaries and members of the Cox family to parade from the Kings Langley Methodist Church along the High Street to The Parish Church for a memorial service. The Last Post
by bugle
was played within the Church and by the grave. The congregation then moved to the community center, where artifacts relating to Christopher Cox's Life were on display.
Kings Langley village is to be twinned with Achiet-le-Grand
in France in November 2009, in honour of Christopher Cox .
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
(25 December 1889 - 28 April 1959) was an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
recipient of the Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
.
Early army career
Cox was married with one son when war was declared but still volunteered in September 1914. He was a privatePrivate (rank)
A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...
in the 7th Battalion, The Bedfordshire Regiment, British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
. He went to France in July 1915 and spent nearly two years in the trenches, first on the Somme near Albert. He was wounded on the first day of the Somme offensive. He was at Thiepval in September 1916 and participated in the Bihucourt assault in March 1917, which is where he won the Victoria Cross.
Victoria Cross
On 13 March 1917 at Achiet-le-GrandAchiet-le-Grand
Achiet-le-Grand is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France.-Geography:A farming village located 12 miles south of Arras, at the D7 and D9 road junction...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, during an attack by the battalion, the front wave was checked by very heavy artillery and machine gun fire and the whole line had to take shelter in shell holes. Cox, a stretcher-bearer, went out over fire-swept ground and single-handedly rescued four men. Having collected the wounded of his own battalion he then helped to bring in the wounded of the adjoining battalion. On two subsequent days he carried out similar work with complete disregard for his own safety.
Injury and discharge
He sustained serious wounds to his foot in an attack on the village of Cherisy on 3 May 1917 which resulted in him being sent back to England.His family expanded to 8 children and 14 grandchildren. He died on 28 April 1959 at age 69. His Victoria Cross is currently on display at the Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...
, London, England.
Memorial celebration in 2007
On 9 September 2007 Kings LangleyKings Langley
Kings Langley is a historic English village and civil parish northwest of central London on the southern edge of the Chiltern Hills and now part of the London commuter belt. The major western portion lies in the borough of Dacorum and the east is in the Three Rivers district, both in the county of...
village celebrated Christopher Augustus Cox's life and daring deeds in a village ceremony. The High Street was closed to traffic to allow a marching piping
Bagpipes
Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of many different types come from...
band, standard bearers, ex service men and women, local dignitaries and members of the Cox family to parade from the Kings Langley Methodist Church along the High Street to The Parish Church for a memorial service. The Last Post
Last Post
The "Last Post" can be either a B♭ bugle call within British Infantry regiments or an E♭ cavalry trumpet call in British Cavalry and Royal Regiment of Artillery used at Commonwealth military funerals and ceremonies commemorating those who have been killed in war.The two regimental traditions have...
by bugle
Bugle
Bugle is a brass musical instrument.Bugle may also refer to:* Contrabass bugle, lowest-pitched instrument in the drum and bugle corps hornline* Bugle , common names of flowering plant genus Ajuga...
was played within the Church and by the grave. The congregation then moved to the community center, where artifacts relating to Christopher Cox's Life were on display.
Kings Langley village is to be twinned with Achiet-le-Grand
Achiet-le-Grand
Achiet-le-Grand is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France.-Geography:A farming village located 12 miles south of Arras, at the D7 and D9 road junction...
in France in November 2009, in honour of Christopher Cox .
External links
- Kings Langley society
- Dacorum Heritage
- Bedfordshire Regiment
- Christopher Cox VC (brief biography but with detailed citation and report transcriptions)
- Find-A-Grave profile for Christopher Augustus Cox