HEROIC BAND OF BROTHERS
New honour for WW1’s famous ‘Fighting Bradfords’
FOUR brothers who fought in the First World War were decorated six times for their bravery – but only one of them made it home.
Two, George and Roland Bradford, became the only brothers in the conflict to both be given the coveted Victoria Cross, while another, James, earned the Military Cross.
Eldest brother Thomas, the only one to survive, was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.
The extraordinary story of the “Fighting Bradfords” is one of vast courage and family sacrifice.
VC winner George, who died on his 31st birthday, St George’s Day 1918, is to be honoured this month, the 100th anniversary of his death.
A memorial to him, the third of the brothers to die, will be unveiled in Witton Park, Co Durham, where the family grew up. It will sit alongside one to Roland unveiled in 2017.
DARING
George – a Lt Commander and Battle of Jutland naval veteran – won the VC, the highest gallantry award, taking the Belgian port of Zeebrugge.
Despite stormy seas, he had volunteered to lead the landing parties in a daring raid to take out German guns.
Aboard a commandeered River Mersey ferry, HMS Iris II, George leapt into action after the British forces’ ladders shattered against the harbour wall, almost scuppering the plan.
Scaling a deck crane which held a large anchor, he jumped across and secured the boat. Moments later he was hit by machine gun fire.
In his VC citation George’s action was praised as “absolute self-sacrifice.”
It added: “Without hesitation he went to certain death, recognising that in such action lay the only possible chance of securing Iris II.”
His Victoria Cross was presented to his mother Amy by King George V at Buckingham Palace in April 1919. It was her third visit to the palace to receive medals for her dead sons.
The second youngest, James, had been wounded on the first day of the Battle of the Somme in 1916 as he led a Durham Light Infantry raid.
On his return to the Somme the following year, he was awarded the Military Cross for taking out two guns, capturing prisoners and killing three enemy soldiers as he led a raid.
But the Second Lieutenant was wounded as he was being relieved from the battle and died aged 28 in hospital three days later.
Youngest brother Roland had been the first to earn his VC. He was first Mentioned in Despatches for his bravery in France in 1914 – then in February 1915, at 23, he was awarded the Military Cross. At the Somme in 1916, he won the VC after taking over a battalion under fire.
At 25, he became the youngest Brigadier General in the British Army – but was killed at the Battle of Cambrai just 20 days later.
Thomas, the eldest Bradford, made it home having been awarded the Distinguished Service Order for gallantry in the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915. Promoted to Colonel, he was knighted in 1939. He died aged 60.
The memorials to George and Roland will be next to a Brothers in Arms statue by artist Ray Lonsdale.
County Councillor Ossie Johnson said: “George’s heroism, and that of his brothers, is still remembered. We’re proud to complete a lasting memorial to their incredible sacrifice.”