Charles William Train

Sergeant Charles William Train VC was a British Army soldier and Victoria Cross recipient who served with the London Regiment, also known as the London Scottish, during the First World War. He was born on 21 September 1890 at 58 Chatterton Road, Finsbury Park, London, and before the war worked as a solicitor’s clerk at Gray’s Inn.

Train joined the London Scottish in 1909 as a Territorial soldier and served with the 1/14th Battalion before later serving with the 2/14th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (London Scottish). Although his later rank was Sergeant, his Victoria Cross action rank was Corporal.

On 8 December 1917 at Ein Kerem, near Jerusalem in Ottoman-controlled Palestine, Train’s company was suddenly engaged at close range by an enemy party with two machine guns and was brought to a halt. Acting on his own initiative under heavy fire, Corporal Train rushed forward with rifle grenades and put part of the enemy machine-gun team out of action with a direct hit. He then shot and wounded the enemy officer commanding the party and killed or wounded the remaining members of the team.

After this, Train went to the aid of a comrade who was bombing the enemy from the front and shot an enemy soldier who was carrying the second machine gun out of action. His courage and initiative helped save his battalion from heavy casualties and enabled the advance to continue at a critical moment.

Train was later promoted to Sergeant. He received the Victoria Cross from King George V at Second Army Headquarters, Blendecques, France, on 6 August 1918. After the war he emigrated to Canada and worked in Vancouver. He died on 28 March 1965 and is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Burnaby, British Columbia. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the London Scottish Regimental Museum in London.