First World War Victoria Cross winner and Army chaplain, ordained at Southwell Minster, remembered in new book by Grantham-based author, Matt Limb
The story of how a mild-mannered Army chaplain came to be awarded Britain’s highest awards for gallantry will be featured in a new book about ten extraordinary war heroes.
‘Valour – The Victoria Cross & The Lincolnshire Regiment’ is the new book by Grantham-based author Matt Limb, and is due to be published on October 1.
Matt carefully researched and curated the stories of ten men of the Lincolnshire Regiment who were awarded the Victoria Cross — Britain’s highest military honour, and is only presented to a select few who display unbelievable bravery and devotion to duty.
Spanning nearly a century of conflict, from the Indian Mutiny of 1857 to the final battles of the Second World War, the book brings to life many of the acts of courage, sacrifice, and leadership that shaped the regiment’s history.
Author, Matt Limb, said: “Each of these ten stories reveals courage in its rawest form.
“They are not tales of superheroes, but of real men who chose duty, selflessness and bravery above themselves.
“The book offers a rare insight into the men behind the medal. As a veteran and historian, I felt compelled to bring these stories together into one volume.”
One such story is that of Reverend Theodore Hardy, was ordained at Southwell Minster, and despite being over 50-years-old at the time, volunteered as an Army chaplain during the First World War.
Military officials were reluctant to take him at first, given his age, but by the spring of 1917, Hardy was in the trenches serving alongside the men of the Lincolnshire Regiment.
He quickly earned a reputation for bravely entering No Man’s Land, greeting injured soldiers with a smile, tending to their wounds, and bringing them to safety.
His extraordinary courage in tending to the wounded under fire earned him all three of the Army’s highest awards for gallantry, all without ever firing a shot in anger.
Through summer of 1917, during the Third Battle of Ypres and the fight for Passchendaele — regarded as one of the bloodiest period of the entire war — continued to put his life on the line, for which he was awarded The Distinguished Service Order and Military Cross.
In April 1918, Hardy would go on to rescue numerous men while under constant shelling, mortar and machine gun fire, and his repeated acts of bravery would earn him the Victoria Cross.
Reporting the news, The London Gazette, wrote that despite continuous bombardment “this very gallant chaplain was seen moving quietly amongst the men and tending the wounded, absolutely regardless of his personal safety.”
Rev. Hardy was presented with the Victoria Cross by King George V himself, at the Château Frohen-le-Grand, near Lucheux in France, on August 9, 1918.
A month later, he was appointed as Honorary Chaplain to His Majesty, but tragically would not live to see the end of the war.
On the night of October 10, during an allied push across the River Selle, he was struck by machine gun fire while tending to the wounded.
In characteristically modest fashion, the first soldiers who rushed to his aid recounted him saying “I’ve been hit. I’m sorry to be a nuisance.”
He was evacuated from the frontlines, but developed pneumonia and died on October 18 — two days before his 55th birthday, and three weeks before the war was over.
In a letter to Hardy’s daughter Mary, the stretcher bearers who had risked their lives to carry her father to safety said “we’d go through hell itself for our dear old padre.’
To find out more about Rev. Hardy’s incredible story, and the lives of nine other Victoria Cross winners, Matt Limb’s book will be available for £15.99 at: www.TheGreatBritishBookshop.co.uk
Fittingly, ‘Valour – The Victoria Cross & The Lincolnshire Regiment’ will be published on October 1, which is Lincolnshire Day.