Charles Calveley Foss

Brigadier Charles Calveley Foss VC, CB, DSO was born on 9 March 1885 at Kobe, Japan. His father, the Reverend Hugh James Foss, was then serving as a missionary in Japan with the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. He did not become Bishop of Osaka until 1899, holding that episcopal office until 1923. Charles's mother died when he was nine years old, and he was subsequently educated in England, attending Marlborough College before training at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Bedfordshire Regiment on 2 March 1904 and was promoted to captain on 20 November 1912. At the outbreak of the First World War, his battalion was stationed in South Africa.

The 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment returned to Britain and landed at Zeebrugge on 4 October 1914 before becoming heavily engaged during the First Battle of Ypres. Foss distinguished himself during the severe fighting around Becelaere and Gheluvelt. By the time the battalion came out of the line in early November, enormous losses had been sustained and Foss was the senior surviving combatant officer. For his services during this period he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, with his name appearing in the official list published in the London Gazette on 24 March 1915.

A few months later Foss performed the action for which he would receive the Victoria Cross. On 12 March 1915, during the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, German troops captured part of a British trench. An initial counter-attack by one officer and twenty men failed, with all but two of the party killed or wounded. Foss immediately gathered only eight men and, under heavy fire, led them in a close-range bombing attack. The small party retook the position and captured the fifty-two German soldiers occupying it. Foss's Victoria Cross was announced in the London Gazette on 23 August 1915.

The official citation stated:

“For most conspicuous bravery at Neuve Chapelle on 12th March, 1915. After the enemy had captured a part of one of our trenches, and our counter-attack made with one Officer and 20 men having failed (all but two of the party being killed or wounded in the attempt), Captain Foss, on his own initiative, dashed forward with eight men, under heavy fire, attacked the enemy with bombs, and captured the position, including the 52 Germans occupying it. The capture of this position from the enemy was of the greatest importance, and the utmost bravery was displayed in essaying the task with so very few men.”

Foss continued to serve on the Western Front after Neuve Chapelle. He was appointed Brigade Major of the 20th Brigade and subsequently held staff appointments, including service with Canadian formations. By late 1916 he held the brevet rank of major. His wartime service also brought foreign recognition from Montenegro. On 9 March 1917 the London Gazette recorded him as a recipient of the Order of Prince Danilo I, 4th Class, the contemporary Gazette styling the decoration as the “Order of Danilo, 4th Class.” This grade is therefore the one that should be used in his honours catalogue entry and ribbon record.

Foss remained in the Regular Army after the First World War. He attended Staff College, later commanded the 2nd Battalion of the King's Regiment, and eventually served in Burma as Commander of the Rangoon Brigade Area. He was appointed Aide-de-Camp to King George V and, by 1937, was a colonel holding the temporary rank of brigadier. In the 1937 New Year Honours he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB). He retired from the Regular Army later that year.

During the Second World War Foss returned to military service in Bedfordshire. He served with the Local Defence Volunteers and Home Guard, becoming lieutenant-colonel commanding the 3rd Bedfordshire Battalion, Home Guard, in 1941. He also served as Commandant of the Bedfordshire County Cadet Force from 1942 to 1947 and became a Deputy Lieutenant of Bedfordshire in 1943. Foss died at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London, on 9 April 1953. He was buried at West Hill Cemetery in Winchester.