Sir Brett Mackay Cloutman

Lieutenant-Colonel His Honour Sir Brett Mackay Cloutman, VC, MC, QC, combined exceptional courage as a Royal Engineer with a distinguished post-war career in British law. His greatest act of gallantry came only days before the end of the First World War, when he swam the River Sambre under enemy fire to prevent the demolition of a vital bridge.

Brett Mackay Cloutman was born at Muswell Hill, London, on 7 November 1891. He was educated at Berkhamsted School, Bishop's Stortford College and the University of London, where he was associated with the Royal Engineers contingent of the Officers' Training Corps. At the outbreak of the First World War he enlisted as a rifleman in the Rangers, 12th Battalion, London Regiment, and rose to lance-corporal. On 10 March 1915 he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Kent (Fortress) Engineers, Territorial Force.

Cloutman subsequently served with the Royal Engineers on active operations. On 30 September 1918, at Banteux, he carried out a personal reconnaissance under heavy machine-gun fire to determine whether the Canal de l'Escaut could be bridged. For his conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty during this reconnaissance he was awarded the Military Cross.

His most remarkable action followed on 6 November 1918 at Pont-sur-Sambre, France. Cloutman, then an acting major serving with the 59th Field Company, Royal Engineers, reconnoitred the river crossings and discovered that the Quartes Bridge was almost intact but had been prepared by the Germans for demolition. Leaving his party under cover, he went forward alone and swam across the river. He reached the bridge and cut the leads connecting the demolition charges.

Cloutman then returned by the same route while the bridge and its approaches were being swept by enemy shells and machine-gun fire at close range. Although the bridge was later blown up by other means, its abutments remained intact. For this act of most conspicuous bravery he was awarded the Victoria Cross. The award was announced in the London Gazette on 31 January 1919.

After the First World War, Cloutman pursued a legal career and was called to the Bar by Gray's Inn in 1926. When Britain again went to war in 1939, he returned to military service with the Royal Engineers. During the Second World War he served overseas, including in the Middle East and Mediterranean theatres. As a major holding the temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel, he was Mentioned in Despatches for gallant and distinguished services in the Middle East, the award being published in the London Gazette on 6 January 1944. His Mention in Despatches is represented by a bronze oak leaf on the ribbon of his War Medal 1939-45.

His Second World War medal entitlement included the 1939-45 Star, Africa Star, Italy Star, Defence Medal and War Medal 1939-45. He had also received the King George VI Coronation Medal in 1937 and subsequently received the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal in 1953.

Cloutman resumed his distinguished legal career after the war. He became King's Counsel in 1946, served as an Official Referee of the Supreme Court of Judicature and later became Senior Official Referee. In the Queen's Birthday Honours of 1957 he received the honour of knighthood for his judicial service.

Sir Brett Mackay Cloutman died at Highgate, London, on 15 August 1971. His surviving medal group, including the Victoria Cross and Military Cross, is associated with the Royal Engineers Museum at Chatham. His career remains remarkable for the combination of personal courage displayed under fire at Pont-sur-Sambre and decades of distinguished service in the Army, the law and public life.