Beachcroft Towse
Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox military person Sir Ernest Beachcroft Beckwith Towse, Template:Post-nominals (23 April 1864 – 21 June 1948) was an English British Army officer and campaigner for the blind. He was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Military career
Towse, the son of a solicitor, was born in London, and was educated at Stubbington House School, Gosport, and Wellington College, Berkshire. In 1883 he joined the 3rd (Militia) Battalion of the Seaforth Highlanders and was promoted lieutenant in December 1885. In 1886 he transferred to the Gordon Highlanders.<ref name=ODNB>Template:Cite ODNB</ref> He distinguished himself with the Chitral Expedition in 1895, was promoted to captain on 20 May 1896, and served in the Tirah Campaign on the North-West Frontier of India in 1898.<ref>Hart′s Army list, 1901</ref>
After the outbreak of the Second Boer War in October 1899, his battalion was sent to South Africa. They were part of large force sent to relieve the Siege of Kimberley, and took part in the Battle of Magersfontein on 10–11 December 1899, in which the defending Boer force defeated the advancing British, causing heavy casualties. Towse was mentioned in the despatch from Lord Methuen describing the battle.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>
Details on the Victoria Cross
Towse was 35 years old, and a captain in the 1st Battalion, The Gordon Highlanders during the Second Boer War when the following deeds led to the award of the Victoria Cross: Template:Quote
The shot that blinded Towse was fired by the Russian volunteer Yevgeny Maximov who was struggling with Towse during the action on Mount Thaba.<ref>Davidson, Apollon & Filatova, Irina The Russians and the Anglo-Boer War, 1899–1902, Cape Town, Human & Rousseau, 1998 page 77.</ref> Queen Victoria, it is said, shed tears when pinning the decoration. Possibly at her instance, The War Office awarded Towse with a special wounds pension of £300 a year.Template:Citation needed
He retired from the army in February 1902,<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> but was appointed by King Edward VII one of His Majesty′s Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms on 1 January 1903.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>
Campaigner for the blind
Towse′s VC action left him blind and he spent much of the rest of his life working with the blind. He served in the First World War as a staff officer working with the wounded in base hospitals in France and Belgium, as well as promoting the welfare of blinded former servicemen.<ref name=ODNB/> Towse was chairman of the British and Foreign Blind Association, founded the British Wireless for the Blind Fund in 1928<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and was a trustee of The Association for Promoting the General Welfare of the Blind (GWB, now known as CLARITY - Employment for Blind People). He provided GWB a grant of £500, which enabled them to start making soap.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 1940 he made his house available as a rehabilitation centre for civilians blinded through air raids.<ref name=ODNB/> His sister, Beatrice Julia Beckwith Towse, was a committee member of the Disabled Officers Garden Homes (formerly Ex-Officers Direct Supply Association) organisation; she lived with him after his injury.<ref>Wounded in War they would work in Peace- A History of the DOGH Macdonnell Gardens, Sqn Ldr Brian R. F. Relf, R.A.F., p. 9</ref>
Among other appointments, Towse was a national vice-president of the British Legion from 1927, and Vice Patron of St Dunstans (now Blind Veterans UK) from 1946, holding both posts until his death in 1948.<ref name=ODNB/>
Pipe Major George S. McLennan (1884–1929) of the Gordon Highlanders composed the 2/4 march "Captain E.B.B. Towse, V.C." in his honour.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The VC medal
His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Gordon Highlanders Museum, Aberdeen, Scotland.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Medals and honours
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File:India Medal BAR.svg
File:Queens South Africa Medal BAR.svg
File:1914 Star BAR.svg
File:British War Medal BAR.svg
File:Victory Medal MID ribbon bar.svg
File:King Edward VII Coronation Medal (Military) ribbon.png
File:King George V Coronation Medal ribbon.svg
File:King George V Silver Jubilee Medal ribbon.svg
File:GeorgeVICoronationRibbon.png
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Source:<ref>List of Captain Sir Beachcroft Towse' Medals</ref><ref>Photo of Captain Sir Beachcroft Towse' Medals</ref>
Other honours
Towse also received a number of other honours, including sergeant-at-arms in ordinary to the queen (appointed 1900); member of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (1903–39); and was also a member of the Fishmongers' Company and the court of the Clothworkers' Company.<ref name=ODNB/>
References
- Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
- The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
- Scotland's Forgotten Valour (Graham Ross, 1995)
- Victoria Crosses of the Anglo-Boer War (Ian Uys, 2000)
External links
- Pages with broken file links
- 1864 births
- 1948 deaths
- Burials in Oxfordshire
- English blind people
- British military personnel of the Tirah campaign
- British Army personnel of the Second Boer War
- British Army personnel of World War I
- British military personnel of the Chitral Expedition
- British charity and campaign group workers
- British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross
- British recipients of the Victoria Cross
- Founders of charities
- Seaforth Highlanders officers
- Gordon Highlanders officers
- Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
- Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
- People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire
- Military personnel from Westminster
- Knights of Grace of the Order of St John
- Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms
- People educated at Stubbington House School
- Second Boer War recipients of the Victoria Cross
- British Militia officers