Double VC Noel will get £5 coin honour

THE only person to win the Victoria Cross twice in the First World War will have his portrait on a new £5 coin.

Captain Noel Godfrey Chavasse will feature on one of the Royal Mint’s new six precious metal coins which tell the story of the First World War 100 years on.

He was awarded his medals for bravery at the Battle of the Somme in 1916 and a year later at Passchendaele, where he lost his life aged 32.

Chavasse, born in Oxford in 1884, was the son of Rev Francis Chavasse, who was later Bishop of Liverpool.

He and his identical twin Christopher competed for Great Britain in the 400m at the 1908 London Olympics.

After qualifying as a doctor Chavasse joined the Royal Army Medical Corps.

In June 1915 he won the Military Cross and was soon promoted to captain.

At the Somme he tended the wounded under heavy fire, saving at least 20 lives and winning his first VC.

The citation said: “His courage and self-sacrifice were beyond praise.”

Then at Passchendaele on August 2, 1917, he was gravely wounded by shell fire but cared for wounded soldiers until he was taken to a casualty clearing station where he died two days later.

A comrade said: “The first wound he received was in the head and all he did was to take his tin hat off, put a bandage around his head, and carry on.”

Anne Jessopp, of The Royal Mint, said: “We are honoured this year to be reflecting on his bravery.”

Only two others won two Victoria Crosses. Surgeon Captain Arthur Martin-leake was awarded it in the Boer War and First World War, and New Zealander Capt Charles Upham at Crete and Egypt in the Second World War. Capt Chavasse

FALLEN