George William Chafer

Gassed and wounded, he carried a message through enemy fire.

George William Chafer was born in Bradford on 16 April 1894 and was brought up largely by his grandparents around Epworth in Lincolnshire. He attended school there before working as a woollen spinner and later as a weigh clerk at Silverwood Colliery near Rotherham. These civilian jobs preceded his decision to enlist in June 1915.

He joined the East Yorkshire Regiment and reached France in December. During the night of 3-4 June 1916, east of Méaulte on the Somme, heavy bombardment struck his unit. A soldier carrying an important message to the company commander was partly buried and rendered unconscious by a shell. Chafer recognized what had happened and retrieved the message.

Although wounded and affected by gas, he made his way along the shattered parapet under artillery and machine-gun fire. He delivered the message before collapsing. His wounds led to the amputation of a leg, ending his regular wartime service. King George V presented his Victoria Cross at Buckingham Palace in November 1916, and he also received the Russian Cross of St George, Third Class.

Chafer returned to the Rotherham area and attempted civilian businesses, including milk delivery and poultry farming, before working for the Ministry of Labour and National Service. He became a parish councillor and chairman at Bramley and remained active in veterans’ organizations. During the Second World War he served in the Home Guard despite his disability.

Unmarried, he continued supporting community life and was closely associated with the creation of a local youth and community centre. He retired from public duties in 1959 and died at Rotherham General Hospital on 1 March 1966. His life after the battlefield combined employment, veterans’ service and practical local work for the community in which he had settled.

Victoria Cross citation Supplement to The London Gazette of 4 August 1916. 5 August 1916, Numb. 29695, p. 7744

For most conspicuous bravery. During a very heavy hostile bombardment and attack on our trenches, a man carrying an important written message to his Company Commander was half buried and rendered unconscious by a shell. Private Chafer, at once grasping the situation, on his own initiative took the message from the man’s pocket, and, although severely wounded in three places, ran along the ruined parapet under heavy shell and machine gun fire and just succeeded in delivering it before he collapsed from the effect of his wounds. He displayed great initiative and a splendid devotion to duty at a critical moment.