Frederick George Dancox

The Worcester Soldier Who Captured a German Strongpoint

A German machine gun had stopped the British advance. Its concrete position was protected by artillery fire, and approaching it seemed almost impossible. Private Frederick George Dancox did not wait for someone else to act. Moving through the barrage with a grenade in his hand, he entered the strongpoint from behind and emerged with approximately forty German prisoners.

That extraordinary act earned him the Victoria Cross. Less than two months later, he was dead.

Frederick was born as Frederick John Dancocks at Crown Lane, Claines, Worcester, on 19 March 1878. The Army recorded his name as Frederick George Dancox, the form by which he became known in military history. Raised in a working-class family, he worked as a hay-trusser before volunteering for the British Army in 1915. Shortly before entering service, he married Ellen Pritchard, with whom he had a young family.

Dancox enlisted in the Worcestershire Regiment and was posted to its 4th Battalion. His wartime service took him first to Gallipoli and later to the Western Front. By 1917, he was serving with the battalion during the Third Battle of Ypres, better known as Passchendaele.

His defining moment came on 9 October 1917, during the Battle of Poelcappelle.

After the Worcesters captured their first objective, German machine-gun fire from a concrete emplacement caused casualties and prevented the battalion from consolidating its position. Dancox was one of approximately ten men assigned to clear enemy strongpoints. The machine gun could not easily be approached from either flank, and the protective barrage made every movement dangerous.

Dancox moved forward from shell hole to shell hole until he reached the rear of the German pillbox. Armed with a Mills bomb, he confronted the defenders and forced the entire garrison to surrender. He then carried the captured machine gun back to the British position and kept it firing against its former owners for the rest of the day.

His Victoria Cross citation praised his “most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty in attack.” It also recorded that his courage, determination and cheerful conduct helped maintain the morale of his comrades under extremely difficult conditions. The award was announced in The London Gazette in November 1917.

Worcester prepared to welcome its new Victoria Cross recipient home. Dancox had been granted fourteen days of leave and was expected to return to Britain to receive the decoration from King George V. His family, local officials and crowds of residents prepared to meet him at the railway station.

He never arrived.

On 30 November 1917, the 4th Worcestershire Regiment was called into action during a German counterattack near Cambrai. Dancox advanced with his battalion across exposed ground and was killed by shrapnel only a few yards from the safety of a trench. His commanding officer later wrote to Ellen Dancox that her husband had been due to leave the battalion that very night, but had remained with his comrades and performed his duty to the end.

Dancox has no known grave. He is commemorated on Panel 6 of the Cambrai Memorial at Louverval in France. His official CWGC record identifies him as Private 21654 of the 4th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment, and confirms his Victoria Cross.

His complete ribbon rack consists of the Victoria Cross, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal 1914-1920 and Victory Medal. The three campaign medals reflect his service at Gallipoli and on the Western Front. His Victoria Cross was received by his widow, Ellen, and was later acquired by the City of Worcester before being placed with the Worcestershire Regiment Museum.

Frederick George Dancox was not a senior officer or a professional soldier. He was a husband, father and labourer who volunteered during the First World War. At Poelcappelle, he faced a fortified machine-gun position and chose to move forward when every instinct must have urged him to stop.

That decision saved lives, restored the advance and secured his place among the bravest soldiers in the history of the Worcestershire Regiment.