William Henry Short

Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox military person William Henry Short VC (4 February 1884 – 6 August 1916) was an English 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.

Short was from Eston, Middlesbrough. Before the war he was a steelworker, working as a craneman in a steelworks at Eston. He was also a popular local footballer, playing for the Grangetown Albion, Saltburn, and Lazenby United.

Short joined the army in September 1914, shortly after the outbreak of the First World War, and went to France in August 1915.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was a 31 year old private in the 8th Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards), when on 6 August 1916 at Munster Alley, Contalmaison, France, during the Battle of the Somme, the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC: Template:Quote

Short was interred at Contalmaison Chateau Cemetery, France.<ref name="CWGC">Template:CWGC</ref> The gravestone inscription reads: SAFE WITH JESUS NEVER FORGOTTEN BY MOTHER FATHER, BROTHERS & SISTERS TILL WE MEET AGAIN.<ref name="CWGC"/>

His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Green Howards Museum, Richmond, North Yorkshire, England.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His steel helmet is part of the collection of the Imperial War Museum.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Gravestone and memorial
• Short's gravestone
  Short's gravestone
• Short's monument, Eston Cemetery
  Short's monument, Eston Cemetery

Bibliography

• Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
• The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
• VCs of the First World War - The Somme (Gerald Gliddon, 1994)

External links

• Biography