Alexis Charles Doxat

The Officer Who Rode Back Under Fire One man had been left behind. His horse was gone, Boer rifle fire was sweeping the ground, and the rest of the patrol was withdrawing. Lieutenant Alexis Charles Doxat did the opposite. He turned his horse around and rode back into the fire. That decision near Zeerust on 20 October 1900 would earn him the Victoria Cross and secure his place among the most remarkable British soldiers of the Second Boer War. The Gazette Alexis Charles Doxat was born at Surbiton, Surrey, on 9 April 1867. Educated at Norwich Grammar School and Philberd's at Maidenhead, he developed a military career alongside civilian life and became a member of the London Stock Exchange. Before the South African War he served in the militia, underwent military instruction, and passed courses at both the Auxiliary School of Instruction and the Hythe Musketry School. When war broke out in South Africa, Doxat left the Stock Exchange and volunteered for active service. Noonans Mayfair He went to South Africa with Lord Scarbrough's detachment and served with the 11th Yorkshire Company, 3rd Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry. His wartime service quickly placed him in the kind of mounted operations where initiative, horsemanship and personal courage mattered. In May 1900 he took part in Lord Methuen's advance from Boshof, and by September he had joined Major-General Douglas's column as a personal aide-de-camp, serving chiefly as a reconnaissance officer. Noonans Mayfair Then came 20 October 1900. Near Zeerust, Doxat accompanied a party of Mounted Infantry sent to reconnoitre a Boer position held by about 100 men on a ridge of kopjes. When the patrol came within roughly 300 yards, the Boers opened a heavy fire. The British party withdrew, but one soldier was stranded after losing his horse. Doxat saw what had happened. Instead of continuing to safety, he galloped back through the fire, reached the dismounted man and carried him away on his own horse. The official London Gazette recorded that Doxat returned "under a very heavy fire" and brought the soldier to safety. The Gazette For that act he was awarded the Victoria Cross, the British Empire's supreme decoration for valour in the presence of the enemy. His award was officially announced in the London Gazette of 15 January 1901, where he appeared as Lieutenant A. C. Doxat of the 3rd Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry. His Victoria Cross itself was engraved with his name and unit and dated 20th October 1900, permanently linking the decoration to the action at Zeerust. The Gazette Doxat's connection with the Victoria Cross did not end with the Gazette notice. King Edward VII personally presented the decoration to him at Marlborough House on 17 December 1901. He later attended the first Victoria Cross Garden Party held by King George V on 26 June 1920, and on 11 November that year he was present for the ceremonies surrounding the Cenotaph and the burial of the Unknown Warrior. Contemporary medal records also identify Doxat as the only member of the Imperial Yeomanry to receive the Victoria Cross during the Boer War, making his award particularly significant in the history of the force. Noonans Mayfair His South African service was represented by the Queen's South Africa Medal 1899-1902, carrying four clasps: Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal and South Africa 1901. The surviving medal was named to him as Lieutenant, VC, of the 11th Company, 3rd Imperial Yeomanry. These clasps provide a compact record of the geographical scope and duration of his Boer War service. Noonans Mayfair Doxat would serve his country again during the First World War. His surviving 1914-15 Star is named to him as Captain, VC, King's Royal Rifle Corps, confirming his wartime association with the King's Royal Rifle Corps. His First World War service was further recognised by the British War Medal 1914-1920 and the Victory Medal 1914-1919, both surviving as part of his original medal group. Noonans Mayfair Decades after Zeerust, his service and standing were reflected once more when he received the King George VI Coronation Medal 1937. Together with the Victoria Cross, Queen's South Africa Medal, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal, it completed the six-medal group known to have belonged to Major Doxat. When the group appeared in a specialist medal auction in 1992, the catalogue recorded the medals individually and noted that the principal medals had been mounted in the style in which Doxat had worn them. Noonans Mayfair Major Alexis Charles Doxat VC died at Cambridge on 29 November 1942, aged 75. Yet the moment that defines his military legacy had lasted only seconds. A patrol was retreating, one soldier was stranded, and Doxat had a choice between safety and danger. He chose danger. More than a century later, the official Victoria Cross citation still preserves the essential fact: under intense enemy fire near Zeerust, Alexis Charles Doxat rode back for a man who could not escape on his own.