Philip Neame
Encyclopedia
Lieutenant General Sir Philip Neame VC
, KBE
, CB
, DSO
, KStJ
(12 December 1888 – 28 April 1978) was a British Army officer and 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. He was also the winner of an Olympic Gold medal, making him the only person to win both this and the Victoria Cross.
Neame was born in Faversham
and died in Selling
. He was educated at Cheltenham College
.
in 1908. He saw service with the 15th Field Company, Royal Engineers
, during the First World War
. Early in the war at the First Battle of Ypres
on October 1914 Neame experienced first hand in the trenches the inadequacies of the official British issue hand-grenades against the German standard and set about creating an alternative. Royal Engineers started devising home-made hand grenades made from empty jam tins filled with rivets, hobnails and loose metal. The explosive was usually two small bits of gun-cotton with a detonator and the necessary bit of fuse projecting from the end of the jam tin. Under the leadership of Neame, Royal Engineer sappers were kept busy in the first winter of World War I manfucturing as many as were needed.
in the 15th Field Company, Corps of Royal Engineers, when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross
:
Neame was interviewed at length on the action for the book "Forgotten Voices". He had been asked by the Commanding Officer of a frontline infantry battalion - West Yorkshire Regiment - to go forward and strengthen the defences in a recently captured German trench. "When I got there I saw the officer in command who said the Germans were counter-attacking with bombs, that his own bombers had all been wounded and that the bombs that were left would not go off. So I went up to talk to one of the remaining bombers...and discovered that he could not light our own bombs because there were no fuses left." Neame knew how to light a grenade by holding a match-head on the end of the fuse and striking a match box across it. He got to the front and commenced lighting and throwing grenades into the German trenches in the two different directions of the German counter-attack. Neame held the trench for forty-five minutes whilst the West Yorks evacuated their wounded back to the previous British frontline trench.
Running Deer team at Paris
and is the only Victoria Cross recipient who has won an Olympic Gold Medal. The Running Deer competition was one of the shooting events at the games. It involved teams of four (firing single shots), where a moving target simulated the animal.
in 1924 and then saw service in India
with the Bengal Sappers and Miners from 1925 before attending the Imperial Defence College in 1930. He became a General Staff Officer in the Waziristan
District in India
in 1932 before becoming a Brigadier-General with Eastern Command in India in 1934 and then returned to England as Commandant
of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich in 1938.
he was named commander of all Empire troops in Cyrenaica following its capture during Operation Compass
. Neame's command had been stripped of much of its battle-experienced units either for re-fitting or to take part in the Battle of Greece
. Lacking accurate intelligence and hampered by over-extended lines of supply, he directed his primarily English and Australian troops to continually fall back in the face of probing attacks from the newly introduced Panzer Group Africa
under the command of General Erwin Rommel
. The newly fielded British 2nd Armoured Division, recently arrived from Britain, was under-strength, lacking training and equipment adapted for desert conditions. It proved no match for Rommel's forces. While navigating to newly established headquarters following one such withdrawal Neame along with Lieutenant-General Richard O'Connor
, were captured by a German patrol. While a prisoner in Italy
, first at Villa Orsini near Sulmona, then at Castello di Vincigliata
PG12 near Florence where he helped with a number of escape attempts with colleagues, including O'Connor, Lieutenant-General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart
, a fellow VC recipient, and Brigardiers John Combe
and Edward Todhunter
. After the successful escape of six officers through Neame's tunnel in April 1943, in which two New Zealander Brigadiers James Hargest
and Reginald Miles
made it successfully to Switzerland. In reprisals the Italians sent his batman Gunner Pickford, (Royal Horse Artillery), to another camp. Following the Italian Armistice in September 1943, Neame eventually made a successful escape with Air Marshal Owen Boyd
and Richard O'Connor, together with all officers and men.
Neame served as Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey
from 1945 to 1953.
Philip Neame was the nephew of a founding father of the Kent-based Shepherd Neame brewing dynasty, the oldest in Kent.
, London, England.
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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....
, KBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, CB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, DSO
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
, KStJ
Venerable Order of Saint John
The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem , is a royal order of chivalry established in 1831 and found today throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Hong Kong, Ireland and the United States of America, with the world-wide mission "to prevent and relieve sickness and...
(12 December 1888 – 28 April 1978) was a British Army officer and 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....
, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
forces. He was also the winner of an Olympic Gold medal, making him the only person to win both this and the Victoria Cross.
Neame was born in Faversham
Faversham
Faversham is a market town and civil parish in the Swale borough of Kent, England. The parish of Faversham grew up around an ancient sea port on Faversham Creek and was the birthplace of the explosives industry in England.-History:...
and died in Selling
Selling, Kent
Selling is a village and civil parish south of Faversham in southeast England. The population is roughly 500.-Primary school:In Selling is a small primary school, Selling C of E Primary School for years 1-6 .-Railway stations:...
. He was educated at Cheltenham College
Cheltenham College
Cheltenham College is a co-educational independent school, located in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.One of the public schools of the Victorian period, it was opened in July 1841. An Anglican foundation, it is known for its classical, military and sporting traditions.The 1893 book Great...
.
World War I
Neame joined the Royal EngineersRoyal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
in 1908. He saw service with the 15th Field Company, Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
, during the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Early in the war at the First Battle of Ypres
First Battle of Ypres
The First Battle of Ypres, also called the First Battle of Flanders , was a First World War battle fought for the strategic town of Ypres in western Belgium...
on October 1914 Neame experienced first hand in the trenches the inadequacies of the official British issue hand-grenades against the German standard and set about creating an alternative. Royal Engineers started devising home-made hand grenades made from empty jam tins filled with rivets, hobnails and loose metal. The explosive was usually two small bits of gun-cotton with a detonator and the necessary bit of fuse projecting from the end of the jam tin. Under the leadership of Neame, Royal Engineer sappers were kept busy in the first winter of World War I manfucturing as many as were needed.
Victoria Cross
Neame was 26 years old, and a lieutenantLieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in the 15th Field Company, Corps of Royal Engineers, when the following deed took place for which he was awarded 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....
:
On 19 December 1914 at Neuve Chapelle, FranceFranceThe 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...
, Lieutenant Neame, in the face of very heavy fire, engaged the Germans in a single-handed bombing attack, killing and wounding a number of them. He was able to check the enemy advance for three-quarters of an hour and to rescue all the wounded whom it was possible to move.
Neame was interviewed at length on the action for the book "Forgotten Voices". He had been asked by the Commanding Officer of a frontline infantry battalion - West Yorkshire Regiment - to go forward and strengthen the defences in a recently captured German trench. "When I got there I saw the officer in command who said the Germans were counter-attacking with bombs, that his own bombers had all been wounded and that the bombs that were left would not go off. So I went up to talk to one of the remaining bombers...and discovered that he could not light our own bombs because there were no fuses left." Neame knew how to light a grenade by holding a match-head on the end of the fuse and striking a match box across it. He got to the front and commenced lighting and throwing grenades into the German trenches in the two different directions of the German counter-attack. Neame held the trench for forty-five minutes whilst the West Yorks evacuated their wounded back to the previous British frontline trench.
Olympian
He was a member of Great Britain's 1924 Olympic1924 Summer Olympics
The 1924 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1924 in Paris, France...
Running Deer team at Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and is the only Victoria Cross recipient who has won an Olympic Gold Medal. The Running Deer competition was one of the shooting events at the games. It involved teams of four (firing single shots), where a moving target simulated the animal.
Inter-war period
Neame was appointed Brigade Major of an Infantry Brigade at AldershotAldershot
Aldershot is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located on heathland about southwest of London. The town is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council...
in 1924 and then saw service in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
with the Bengal Sappers and Miners from 1925 before attending the Imperial Defence College in 1930. He became a General Staff Officer in the Waziristan
Waziristan
Waziristan is a mountainous region near the Northwest of Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering some 11,585 km² . The area is entirely populated by ethnic Pashtuns . The language spoken in the valley is Pashto/Pakhto...
District in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
in 1932 before becoming a Brigadier-General with Eastern Command in India in 1934 and then returned to England as Commandant
Commandant
Commandant is a senior title often given to the officer in charge of a large training establishment or academy. This usage is common in anglophone nations...
of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich in 1938.
World War II
Neame later achieved the rank of lieutenant-general. In 1941 during the North African CampaignNorth African campaign
During the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had...
he was named commander of all Empire troops in Cyrenaica following its capture during Operation Compass
Operation Compass
Operation Compass was the first major Allied military operation of the Western Desert Campaign during World War II. British and Commonwealth forces attacked Italian forces in western Egypt and eastern Libya in December 1940 to February 1941. The attack was a complete success...
. Neame's command had been stripped of much of its battle-experienced units either for re-fitting or to take part in the Battle of Greece
Battle of Greece
The Battle of Greece is the common name for the invasion and conquest of Greece by Nazi Germany in April 1941. Greece was supported by British Commonwealth forces, while the Germans' Axis allies Italy and Bulgaria played secondary roles...
. Lacking accurate intelligence and hampered by over-extended lines of supply, he directed his primarily English and Australian troops to continually fall back in the face of probing attacks from the newly introduced Panzer Group Africa
Panzer Army Africa
As the number of German armed forces committed to the North Africa Campaign of World War II grew from the initial commitment of a small corps the Germans developed a more elaborate command structure and placed the now larger Afrika Korps, with Italian units under this new German command structure,...
under the command of General Erwin Rommel
Erwin Rommel
Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel , popularly known as the Desert Fox , was a German Field Marshal of World War II. He won the respect of both his own troops and the enemies he fought....
. The newly fielded British 2nd Armoured Division, recently arrived from Britain, was under-strength, lacking training and equipment adapted for desert conditions. It proved no match for Rommel's forces. While navigating to newly established headquarters following one such withdrawal Neame along with Lieutenant-General Richard O'Connor
Richard O'Connor
General Sir Richard Nugent O'Connor KT, GCB, DSO & Bar, MC, ADC was a British Army general who commanded the Western Desert Force in the early years of World War II...
, were captured by a German patrol. While a prisoner in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, first at Villa Orsini near Sulmona, then at Castello di Vincigliata
Vincigliata
Vincigliata Castle is a medieval castle which stands on a rocky hill to the east of Fiesole in the Italian region of Tuscany. In the mid-nineteenth century the building, which had fallen into a ruinous state, was acquired by the Englishman John Temple-Leader and entirely reconstructed in the...
PG12 near Florence where he helped with a number of escape attempts with colleagues, including O'Connor, Lieutenant-General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart
Adrian Carton de Wiart
Lieutenant-General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart VC, KBE, CB, CMG, DSO , was a British officer of Belgian and Irish descent...
, a fellow VC recipient, and Brigardiers John Combe
John Frederick Boyce Combe
Major-General John Frederick Boyce Combe CB DSO & Bar was a British Army officer before and during World War II. He was twice awarded the DSO for his service in the Western Desert Campaign before being captured in April 1941 and spending nearly two and a half years as a prisoner of war in Italy...
and Edward Todhunter
Edward Joseph Todhunter
Brigadier Edward Joseph Todhunter TD, DL, soldier and High Sheriff of EssexTed Todhunter was born in Essex, on his family estate Kingsmoor House and Stewards farm in Great Parndon. He attended Rugby School becoming a Cadet in the O.T.C division. In 1922 he was Gazetted as 2nd Lt. in the...
. After the successful escape of six officers through Neame's tunnel in April 1943, in which two New Zealander Brigadiers James Hargest
James Hargest
Brigadier James Hargest CBE, DSO & 2 bars, MC, ED, MP, was a New Zealand military officer and politician.Hargest was born in Gore, where his father was a farmer. He joined the Territorial Force in 1911, and when World War I broke out, he volunteered to serve in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force,...
and Reginald Miles
Reginald Miles
Brigadier Reginald Miles, CBE, DSO & Bar, MC Military leader, prisoner of war.Reginald Miles was born in Springston, near Christchurch, in 1892 into a New Zealand farming family. He was educated at Rangiora High School and in 1910 was commissioned a subaltern in the school cadets...
made it successfully to Switzerland. In reprisals the Italians sent his batman Gunner Pickford, (Royal Horse Artillery), to another camp. Following the Italian Armistice in September 1943, Neame eventually made a successful escape with Air Marshal Owen Boyd
Owen Tudor Boyd
Air Marshal Owen Tudor Boyd CB, OBE, MC, AFC was an officer in the British Royal Flying Corps during most of World War I...
and Richard O'Connor, together with all officers and men.
Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey
The Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey is the representative of the British monarch in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a Crown dependency of the British Crown. The role of the Lieutenant Governor is to act as the de facto head of state in Guernsey and as liaison between the governments of Guernsey and the...
from 1945 to 1953.
Philip Neame was the nephew of a founding father of the Kent-based Shepherd Neame brewing dynasty, the oldest in Kent.
The medal
His Victoria Cross is displayed with his other medals at the Imperial War MuseumImperial 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.
External links
- Royal Engineers Museum Sappers VCs
- Location of grave (Kent)
- Philip NEAME of Cheltenham College
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