Arthur Herbert Procter

The First World War Hero Who Later Became an RAF Chaplain Arthur Herbert Procter did not earn the Victoria Cross by charging an enemy trench or destroying a machine-gun position. He earned Britain’s highest award for gallantry by leaving the safety of his own trench, crawling across open ground under direct enemy fire, and refusing to abandon two wounded soldiers lying helpless in front of the German lines. It was an act of courage centred not on taking life, but on saving it. Remarkably, the young private who performed that deed would later devote much of the rest of his life to the Church and would return to uniform during the Second World War as Squadron Leader the Reverend Arthur Herbert Procter VC, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Arthur Herbert Procter was born in Bootle, Lancashire, on 11 August 1890. Before the First World War he worked in Liverpool's provisions trade and was already involved in Sunday school, mission work and voluntary first-aid activities. When war transformed Europe in 1914, Procter enlisted in the 5th Battalion, The King's (Liverpool Regiment), Territorial Force, on 30 November 1914. He went to France in February 1915 and experienced the realities of the Western Front almost immediately. He was wounded by shrapnel in May 1915, recovered, and returned to his battalion. His wartime service subsequently included operations associated with Loos, the Somme, Ypres and Arras. Then came 4 June 1916 near Ficheux, France, the day that made Arthur Procter one of the most remarkable Victoria Cross recipients of the First World War. Following a failed British raid, Procter noticed two wounded soldiers lying in the open about 75 yards in front of the British position. They were exposed to enemy observation and fire. Without waiting for an order, Procter climbed out and went after them. Under sustained German fire, he ran and crawled across the exposed ground, reached the wounded men, moved them into the shelter of a small bank and dressed their wounds. He left them some of his own clothing for warmth, reassured them that they would be recovered after dark, and then made the dangerous return journey to the British trench. Both wounded men were brought back alive that evening. The official citation described his conduct simply and powerfully as "most conspicuous bravery." His Victoria Cross was announced in the London Gazette in August 1916, with Procter listed as No. 3156 Private Arthur Herbert Procter of the Liverpool Regiment. King George V personally presented the VC to him in France that August. Contemporary and later accounts identify the presentation as particularly notable because Procter was decorated while still serving in the battlefield area rather than receiving the Cross later at Buckingham Palace. Yet Procter's story did not end with the Victoria Cross. After leaving the Army, he returned for a time to civilian employment, but his life gradually moved in a very different direction. He studied at St Aidan's College, Birkenhead, was ordained a deacon in 1927 and a priest in 1928, and served in a succession of Church of England appointments. His ministry took him through Prescot, Bosley and Hyde, among other parishes. The soldier who had once crawled through enemy fire to reach wounded comrades had become a clergyman whose work was centred on pastoral service. Then Britain went to war again. Procter could have remained entirely in civilian ministry, but in 1941 he returned to uniform, this time with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve as a chaplain. The London Gazette officially records the Reverend Arthur Herbert Procter, service number 63054, appointed with effect from 4 March 1941. He served with the relative rank of Squadron Leader, linking two dramatically different chapters of British military history: the infantry trenches of the First World War and the Royal Air Force of the Second. His ribbon entitlement reflected that extraordinary span of service. Alongside his Victoria Cross, Procter's First World War service brought entitlement to the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal 1914-1920 and Victory Medal 1914-1919. His Second World War service was represented by the Defence Medal 1939-1945 and War Medal 1939-1945. Recipient-specific records confirm the First World War trio, Defence Medal and the Coronation Medals, while a detailed history of Procter's surviving medal group additionally records the War Medal 1939-1945. Procter also lived through three major royal commemorations while already a holder of the Victoria Cross. His reconstructed entitlement includes the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal 1935, King George VI Coronation Medal 1937 and Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal 1953. The 1937 and 1953 medals are specifically recorded in the VC and GC Association's biographical record. Government honours documentation also confirms the longstanding practice of offering Jubilee and Coronation medals to living holders of the Victoria Cross, supporting Procter's entitlement to the 1935 Silver Jubilee Medal while he was a living VC recipient. VC and GC Association There was another deeply personal cost to Procter's Second World War experience. His son Sergeant Cecil Charles Procter RAF was killed during the conflict. For Arthur Procter, therefore, the Second World War was not simply a return to military service as a chaplain. It was also a war experienced as a father who lost a son serving in the same air force. After the war, Procter continued his ministry, serving at St Mary's in Droylsden, St Peter's at Claybrooke and later at Bradworthy in Devon. Even in retirement he remained closely connected with veterans and remembrance. His public identity could easily have rested on the letters VC, but the greater story is what he did after receiving them. He spent decades in pastoral work, returned voluntarily to wartime service, supported veterans and remained associated with the Victoria Cross community into old age. Arthur Herbert Procter died in Sheffield in January 1973, aged 82. His ashes were ultimately placed at Sheffield Cathedral, while his Victoria Cross and medal group became associated with the King's Regiment collection in Liverpool.

Arthur Herbert Procter VC is remembered not simply because he possessed Britain's highest gallantry award, but because the action that earned it revealed the character of the man he would become. In 1916 he crossed open ground under fire because two wounded soldiers needed help. Years later, as a priest and RAF chaplain, service to others remained at the centre of his life. His story connects the Western Front, the Victoria Cross, the Church of England and the Royal Air Force in one remarkable British military life.