Medal for the ultimate sacrifice makes £280k
AGEORGE Cross awarded to a young officer from the West who died of starvation rather than submit to his captors has sold for £280,000.
The award was given posthumously to Lieutenant T E Waters of the West Yorkshire Regiment.
During the Korean War the young and inexperienced officer Terence was captured and imprisoned in the foul conditions of the Kangdong Caves.
After urging his own troops to save themselves by pretending to submit to North Korean Communists propaganda, Terence refused as the last remaining officer.
He eventually died from starvation and a lack of medication and was given the George Cross posthumously.
The honour was given for the “highest gallantry that may be asked of any Briton: he sacrificed his life rather than dishonour his nation”.
The award was yesterday sold on behalf of the Bristol-based family of Terence Edward Waters – in a live auction from Dix Noonan Webb – fetching £280,000.
Christopher Mellor-Hill, of Dix, Noonan, Webb, said: “This has to be one of the most heroic George Crosses awarded for bravery.
“It stands out for being awarded to a hero of the Battle of Imjin River who... sacrificed his life in defying the North Korean propaganda command by staying with his fellow POWs, exemplifying all those high traditions of British leadership with courage.”
T E Waters, who was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, in June 1929, was accepted into the Royal Military College Sandhurst in 1948.
The following year he was commissioned Second Lieutenant into the West Yorkshire Regiment.
At the battle of Imjin, Terence’s A Company withstood the brunt of repeated frenzied attacks by a large force of Chinese troops, suffering severe casualties.
Badly wounded in the head later in the battle, Terence was recommended for a Military Cross for his “splendid example of coolness and gallantry”.
Captured subsequent to the battle, Terence was imprisoned in the dark and partially flooded tunnels near Pyongyang.
Eventually, as the only officer with the British party, Terence ordered his men to save themselves by pretending to submit to subversion at a Peace Camp but, though in rags, starving and badly wounded, steadfastly refused to do so himself.
The final paragraph from Terence’s original George Cross recommendation states: “He was a young, inexperienced officer, comparatively recently commissioned from the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.
“Yet he set an example of the highest gallantry that may be asked of any Briton: he sacrificed his life rather than dishonour his nation.
“Surely his death, chosen so selflessly and so courageously at Pyongyang, must stand with the finest epics of personal courage in the history of British prowess.”