Chavasse, double VC

Many heroes emerged during the First World War, but only one man was twice awarded the Victoria Cross during that conflict. This was Captain Noel Godfrey Chavasse, serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps as Medical Officer to the 10th Battalion, the King's (Liverpool Regiment)--the Liverpool Scottish. The author has unearthed a forgotten archive of his letters from the Front; she has also been allowed complete access to the Chavasse family correspondence, photographs and other documents, most of them in private hands and never before published. The result is a fascinating study of a man who, while typical in almost every way of the Victorian/Edwardian middle class from whence he came, stands out for his simple courage and unflinching devotion to duty. The narrative follows Noel Chavasse from his birth (with a twin brother, Christopher) in 1884, to his education and maturity in Oxford and Liverpool. While Noel grew up and qualified as a doctor, his father became Bishop FJ Chavasse of Liverpool and embarked on the building of the largest and last twentieth-century cathedral in the Anglican world. Together with that of his remarkable family, this account of the life of Noel Godfrey Chavasse, VC and Bar, MC is one that has waited 75 years to be told. This is a deeply moving story about a modest but heroic young man seen against the background of his devoted family and the grim realities of the First World War.