Five-foot Victoria Cross winner received a big hero’s welcome
A few days after war broke out in August 1914, Arthur Vickers was turned away by five recruitment offices due to his ‘short stature’ of 5’ 0” before being accepted back into the army.
Having previously served for six years with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment until 1908, his military experience and enthusiasm convinced the sixth recruiting officer to sign him up for the regiment’s second battalion, and his faith in Vickers would result in the first Victoria Cross being awarded to a man from Birmingham, and to a soldier in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. He was also awarded the French Croix de Guerre.
He returned briefly to Aston and was to be feted at a civic reception, but had to return to the Front before he could accept the invitation.
Such was the clamour for a piece of the local hero, LanceCorporal Vickers told the Banbury Guardian of March 23, 1916: “I shall be glad to get back to France – it is quieter there.”
Arthur was born in Woodcock Street, in Aston on February 2, 1882. Before the Great War he had been educated at Dartmouth Street Council School, and in December 1915 he revisited the school where he was ‘accorded a hearty welcome by the staff and boys’. Mr H.G. Tipper, the headmaster, in a brief speech, assured Lance-corporal Vickers of their pride in him. The distinction he had won, he said, was a credit not only to the country and the city, but also Dartmouth Street School.
Hearty cheers
Lance-corporal Vickers expressed his pleasure at being in his old school again. He wondered, he said, how many of the boys would become soldiers. Immediately hands from all parts of the room were held up. Hearty cheers were given, and the National Anthem was sung.
His act of incredible courage took place on September 25, 1915, when he braved bullets and shells to cut a way through a maze of barbed wire at Hulloch, during the Battle of Loos. He was an easy, open target. He stood up in daylight and grappled with a pair of clumsy heavy wire cutters, patiently clipping the tangle of wire to create a route through for him and his comrades. Afterwards, he would joke that he only survived because he was so short.
A report in the Birmingham Post stated: “During an attack by his battalion on the first line of German trenches, Private Vickers, of his own initiative and with the utmost bravery, went forward in front of his company under very heavy shell, rifle, and machine-gun fire and cut the wires which were holding up a great part the battalion.
“Although it was broad daylight at the time, he carried out this work standing up. His gallant action contributed largely to the success of the assault.”
The Birmingham Evening
Mail of November 29, 1915, reported “When Corporal Vickers VC and his relatives arrived home at Park Road, Aston, on Saturday evening they found that the neighbours had gaily decorated the yard to the rear of the house with flags and lanterns in honour of the hero’s arrival, while large Union Jacks were floating from the houses facing the road.
Besieged
“Throughout Sunday the gallant corporal was besieged with visitors and friends, and was also the recipient of many letters of congratulation, including one from the Countess of Warwick. “In the evening he attended a service at Aston Parish Church, having received a special invitation to do so from the Reverend Canon Sutton. “Earlier in the day he was taken for a motor drive and paid a visit to Kynoch’s Ltd, at Witton, where he saw the military guard which is furnished by the 3rd Battalion Warwickshire Volunteer Regiment, and who were drawn outside the guard room.
“This morning Corporal Vickers was received at the Council House by the Lord Mayor ( Alderman Neville
Chamberlain) who warmly congratulated him on his achievements at the front.
“And at Curzon Hall, Colonel Hart and the other officers gave him a warm welcome, the colonel expressing the hope that he might be able to get the corporal’s leave extended, and that he would be able, for a few days, to be attached to that recruiting station.
“A large crowd warmly cheered the ‘Hero of Hulloch’ when he reappeared in the street, the band of the Warwicks meanwhile playing the popular regimental march, ‘The Warwickshire Lads’. In the day, Corporal Vickers, who was wearing the French Military Cross, left for Warwick by motor car, to attend the regimental depot at Warwick.”
Palace
Arthur received his Victoria Cross at Buckingham Palace in early March 1916, and after came home to stay with his sister Amy.
On March 13, 1916, a reporter for the Birmingham Daily Gazette wrote: “In the match between Coventry City and Birmingham (1-1 scoreline), Lance-corporal Vickers VC kicked off.
“The ‘Midget’ VC hero from Birmingham was an interested spectator and was given a cordial welcome when he went upon the field to kick off.”
He also attended a snooker competition to help raise funds for the benefit of wounded soldiers in hospital at the Great Western Hotel, Acocks Green, in March 1916.
Excitement
On March 3, 1916, his visit to the mayor’s office sparked scenes of excitement. The Daily Gazette noted: “After facing the camera, the Aston hero was marched to the Council House by way of Navigation Street, Lower Temple Street and New Street and on the way, he was recognised by a few people who, at intervals, raised hearty cheers. At the Council House the band waited and as the small procession came to a stop bodies appeared at windows to get a glimpse of the gallant ‘Midget’.
“Here Vickers was shouldered by admirers and then taken into the Council House to see the Lord Mayor who congratulated him upon his gallantry and said that he was pleased Vickers had returned home safe and sound.”
But Arthur missed out on the greatest celebration of his outstanding achievement. He and Ladywood VC hero Herbert James were to be honoured in a Victoria Square presentation ceremony.
However, Arthur was sent back to the trenches before the big day. On December 11, 1915, the Birmingham Mail reported on the event: “Unfortunately, Lance-corporal Vickers was unable to be present, having returned to France before an extension of his leave could be obtained. The attendance was large, and representative of the civic life of Birmingham.
“Many members of the Corporation, together with their lady friends, were present. The Lord Mayor handed the address to Lieutenant James and the crowd sang lustily ‘For he’s a jolly good fellow’. Lieutenant James VC thanked the Lord Mayor for the city’s tribute and sat down. But the crowd were insistent for a speech, and the lieutenant, in a few remarks, warmly thanked them for the kindness of their reception.
“Addressing those who intended to join the army, he availed himself the opportunity to emphasise the claims of the Worcestershire Regiment in which, he said, Birmingham men were largely represented.
“The Lord Mayor said it was a matter for deep regret that the military authorities had not seen their way to permit Corporal Vickers to be present. Vickers had returned to France before the authority giving him an extension of leave was received.
Congratulations
“His Lordship said he proposed sending a telegram to Corporal Vickers expressing the regret of the citizens that he was not able to present to receive their congratulations, and their desire to see him soon safe again in Birmingham.”
Vickers lived a charmed life, as shortly after he returned a bomb burst in a trench near him. It killed a man who had been close beside him, but he escaped by running into a dugout.
In November 1920 Vickers was invited to be part of the honour guard of Victoria Cross recipients for the Unknown Warrior being laid to rest at Westminster Abbey, and one of the 320 holders of the VC who dined with the Prince of Wales in the Royal Gallery of the House of Lords on Armistice Day, 1929.
Vickers worked at the GEC factory in Witton and died of carcinoma of the stomach and pulmonary tuberculosis at City Hospital, West Heath, Birmingham, on July 27, 1944. Arthur, a member of the Home Guard at the time, is buried at Witton Cemetery. His widow, Lily, died just a month after her husband.
Birmingham City Council in November 2000 dedicated a headstone for his unmarked grave in Witton Cemetery, and he has been remembered on one of the Victoria Cross Commemorative Paving Stones adjacent to the Birmingham War Memorial near the new library in central Birmingham.
His group of medals are held at the Royal Warwickshire Regiment Museum in Warwick, and also include the 19141915 Star, British War Medal 1920, Victory Medal and George VI Coronation Medal.