• Home
• Military people
• William Henry Metcalf

William Henry Metcalf Military person

William Henry Metcalf VC, MM (29 January 1894 – August 1968) was a Canadian 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. Though born in the United States (Waite, Maine), Metcalf is also considered Canadian since he joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force in 1914. He is one of only 6 Americans to receive the Victoria Cross.In addition to the Victoria Cross, he was awarded the Military Medal and bar.Metcalf was one of seven Canadians to be awarded the Victoria Cross for their actions on one single day, 2 September 1918. The other six recipients were Bellenden Hutcheson, George Knight'>Arthur George Knight, Claude Joseph Patrick Nunney, Cyrus Wesley Peck, Walter Leigh Rayfield and John Francis Young.He was 23 years old, and a lance-corporal in the 16th (Canadian Scottish) Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.On 2 September 1918 at Arras, France, when the right flank of the battalion was held up, Lance-Corporal Metcalf rushed forward under intense machine-gun fire to a passing tank and with his signal flag walked in front of the tank directing it along the trench in a perfect hail of bullets and bombs. The machine-gun strong-point was overcome, very heavy casualties were inflicted and a critical situation was relieved. Later, although wounded, Corporal Metcalf continued to advance until ordered to get into a shell-hole and have his wounds dressed.

Personal facts

Birth date	January 01, 1885
Birth place	Waite Maine , United States
Date of death	August 08, 1968
Place of death	South Portland Maine
Resting place	Eastport Maine

• facebook
• tumblr
• linkedin
• twitter
• reddit
• google+