The city of Liverpool has had many famous sons and daughters throughout its colourful history coming from all walks of life. It has had its heroes too. One such was Noel Chavasse, a doctor and soldier who fought and died in the First World War, as did so very many men. The special thing about Noel, however, was that he was the recipient of the Military Cross and the Victoria Cross twice! He was the only soldier in that war to receive two VCs. Only three men have ever been honoured in this way.

The family was of French origin coming over to England in the early eighteenth century. Noel was born in Oxford and Noel’s father Francis came to Liverpool with his wife Edith and seven children to take up the position of bishop. Noel was an extremely talented young man. He was a prize winning academic and qualified as a doctor. Athletically gifted, he played rugby and took part in the 400 yards race in the 1908 Olympic Games, running alongside his twin brother Christopher.

In 1913 he joined the 10^th Battalion of the King’s (Liverpool) Regiment – a kilted territorial battalion known as the Liverpool Scottish. His letters home at the outbreak of war show an eagerness to get into action. This changed as the war progressed and he found himself part of the full horrors of trench warfare. In June 1915, near Ypres, he was awarded his first medal, the Military Cross. The next year found him on the Somme on July 1st, the first day of that terrible battle. Later that month and for two consecutive nights he went out into no man’s land to tend the wounded. Injured himself he was able to save the lives of twenty wounded men and for this bravery in the face of imminent death he received his first Victoria Cross. The following year the Liverpool Scottish were struggling through mud and rain, attempting to capture a German strongpoint during what became known as the battle of Passchendaele. Noel had found an abandoned dug-out which seemed an ideal shelter in which to treat the wounded. A German shell came through the back door of the bunker killing and wounding all the occupants. Captain Chavasse ( as he was known) was badly wounded in the stomach but continued to care for his men. However, his luck ran out and two days later he died from his injuries. For this second display of compassion and courage he received his second Victoria Cross. He was buried in the military cemetery at Brandhoek. He was only thirty three years old and engaged to be married.

Noel’s twin brother Christopher and brothers Bernard and Aidan were also commissioned in the army; Aidan was a fighting soldier, Christopher was a padre and Bernard was a doctor too. Christopher and Bernard both also won the Military Cross and survived the war. Christopher became Bishop of Rochester while Bernard was sadly killed in a car crash in the 1940s. Aidan, the fourth youngest brother was assumed dead. Injured on patrol near Ypres, he had to be left behind as daylight approached. When the rescue party arrived the following night he was no longer there!. His grieving mother clung on to the hope that he would one day return and so his name was not added to the 1920s memorial to the dead in Liverpool Town Hall. It was not until the 1990s that the family finally added his name to the 13,000 fallen.

It took a little while for the city to publicly acknowledge their double VC giving the Beatles a statue first! There is now a Chavasse Park, a blue plaque on the family home in Abercromby Square and a rather grand statue of Noel tending a wounded soldier. His name is remembered at Liverpool University where he studied, at Liverpool Cricket Club and at Sefton Harriers.

A fellow soldier who had been with him on the day he died commented "Gee" he did work! I was beginning to think he was not human, because nothing made him flinch or duck. The first wound that he received was in the head and all he did was take off his hat, put a bandage on his head and carry on. This he did all day and all night until the next wound he got, in the side, did for him". He also added that a VC was too small for such a man.

The regimental history of the Liverpool Scottish sums up his legacy thus. "The memory of Noel Chavasse may be on his tombstone, on a memorial somewhere, but the true memory of him is in the hearts of the men he was looking after, the men of the Liverpool Scottish".

Barbara Hothersall