Twice a hero

Coin struck to honour double VC doctor

The only British serviceman to be awarded the Victoria Cross twice during the First World War is to be honoured by the Royal Mint on a commemorative coin.

Captain Noel Godfrey Chavasse, a doctor in the Royal Army Medical Corps, saved the lives of at least 20 soldiers as he tended to the wounded while under heavy enemy fire at the battle of The Somme in 1916.

He was subsequently awarded Britain’s highest military honour, and a year later was back at Passchendaele.

There, on August 2 1917, the 32-year-old was gravely wounded by artillery fire, but continued caring for casualties until he was taken to a clearing station, where he died two days later.

Chavasse was posthumously awarded a Bar to his VC.

Separately, he had already won a Military Cross for bravery in action.

His unique achievement is being celebrated in a series of special sets of coins being produced by the Royal Mint to mark 100 years since key events during the First World War.

A one-off £5 coin depicts the medic caring for a fallen soldier while still on the battlefield, with a likeness of his face in the background.

“The Royal Mint has a long association with the military, having made medals for military campaigns since 1815,” said Anne Jessopp, the organisation’s director of Consumer Business.

“We will have made Captain Noel Chavasse’s Military Cross, for example, so we are honoured this year to be reflecting on his bravery.”

Chavasse, one of twin boys who both represented Britain in the 1908 Olympics 400m, was commissioned in 1913. He quickly proved himself to be deeply concerned for his men.