James Lennox Dawson was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to [[United Kingdom|British] and Commonwealth forces.

Details

He was 23 years old, and a Corporal in the 187th Coy., Corps of Royal Engineers, British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 13 October 1915 at Hohenzollern Redoubt , France, during a gas attack, when the trenches were full of men, Corporal Dawson exposed himself fearlessly to the enemy's fire in order to give directions to his sappers and to clear the infantry out of sections of the trench which were full of gas. Finding three leaking cylinders, he rolled them well away from the trench, again under heavy fire, and then fired rifle bullets into them to let the gas escape. His gallantry undoubtedly saved many men from being gassed.

Further information

He later achieved the rank of Colonel.

The medal

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Reference

• Monuments To Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
• The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
• The Sapper VCs (Gerald Napier, 1998)
• SCOTLAND'S FORgotten VALOUR (Graham Ross, 1995)
• VCs of the First World War - The Western Front 1915 (Peter F. Batchelor & Christopher Matson, 1999)

See also

External links

• Location of grave and VC medal (East Sussex)

This page has been migrated from the Victoria Cross Reference with permission.