Leading Tanks on Horseback

When Acting Lieutenant Colonel Richard West earned his Victoria Cross in September 1918, he was already a much-decorated war hero in command of a tank battalion. His extraordinary battlefield heroism had been both on horseback and commanding light tanks.

As the First World War neared its close in the summer of 1918, Acting Lieutenant Colonel Richard West had more than done his bit for the British war effort. By then, he was the recipient of the Distinguished Service Order and in August 1918 he twice displayed such bravery that he was later rewarded with two further gallantry medals. On top of these formidable achievements, West had been Mentioned in Despatches no less than three times.

So, on the first day of September 1918, as he approached his 40th birthday and with the end of the war in sight, West could have been forgiven had he displayed a streak of self-preservation – but that was simply not part of his make-up.

Richard Annesley West was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, on 26 September 1878, but his roots were Irish. His father was Lieutenant Augustus West, from Whitepark, Co. Fermanagh, having served with the 76th Hindustan Regiment. The Regiment got its name from distinguishing itself in Hindustan and was often known affectionately as the ‘Seven and Sixpennies’ from its number.

After finishing schooling, West attended Uckfield Agricultural College in Sussex. However, if he had intentions of pursuing a career in farming they did not last long and he soon followed his father into the Army, serving during the Second Boer War of 1899-1902 and ending up in Kitchener’s Fighting Scouts.

He continued in his military career after service in Africa, and immediately after the outbreak of the First World War, West served with the North Irish Horse (Cavalry Special Reserve) and was promoted to lieutenant on 11 August 1914 before leaving for France that month.

The North Irish Horse arrived in France on 20 August and were soon in the thick of the action, quickly pushing forward and reaching the French and Belgian frontier in time to relieve the pressure on the retreating forces before involvement in fierce fighting at Compiègne on 1 September, and a few days later at Le Cateau.

During the Battles of the Marne and the Aisne, both the North and the South Irish Horse were employed in the woods rounding up parties of Uhlans;

light cavalry armed with lances, sabres, and pistols.

West served with distinction during the early months of the war, surviving the retreat from Mons. Mentioned in Despatches in Sir John French’s first despatch of the war, he was promoted to captain on 18 November 1915, but it was not until the final year of the conflict that he received the first of four gallantry medals. On New Year’s Day 1918, The London Gazette announced he had been awarded the Distinguished Service Order.

West then became acting major in the Tank Corps in January 1918, and acting lieutenant colonel in August, commanding the 6th Light Tank Battalion. While with the Tank Corps, he showed bravery for which he was later rewarded with his second decoration, the Military Cross.

However, by the time a Bar to his DSO and his MC was announced, he received a posthumous VC for gallantry on 21 August and 2 September, when he died on the battlefield.

His VC was announced a month after his death, the Daily Mirror welcoming the news with the headline ‘Splendidly won V.C.’

(Courtesy of the Lord Ashcroft Collection) ■ The medals and decorations of Lieutenant Colonel Richard West VC, DSO & Bar, MC. The medals include two for his service in South Africa (together with associated clasps) as well as the 1914 Star, War Medal, and Victory Medal. The latter carries the Mention in Despatches oak leaf on its ribbon.

■ At the time of the actions for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross, Lieutenant Colonel Richard West was attached to the 6th Battalion Tank Corps. As a “Light” battalion, the 6th was equipped with the Medium Mark A Whippet, an example of which (from the 6th Battalion) is pictured here on the battlefield in the summer of 1918

■ Above right: Another Whippet tank pictured in the summer of 1918, on the Western Front. The 6th Battalion formed part of the 3rd Tank Brigade alongside the 3rd Battalion, both of which were intended to be equipped with forty-eight Whippets each.

■ Above left: Richard West embarked for France on 21 August 1914, as a Lieutenant in ‘C’ Squadron North Irish Horse. Here, in an image taken from Richard Doherty’s The North Irish Horse: A Hundred Years of Service, Lieutenant (later Lieutenant Colonel) Richard West (mounted) is pictured riding alongside Captain Holt Waring. Like West, Waring did not survive the war, dying of wounds in April 1918. (Courtesy Richard Doherty)