Godfrey Meynell

Held a frontier position and fought on against heavy attacks

Godfrey Meynell was born on 20 May 1904 at Meynell Langley in Derbyshire. His father, also named Godfrey, was an army officer, and his mother was Edith Violet Cammell. He won a scholarship to Eton College and later trained at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, before entering the British Indian Army.

Meynell served with the 5th Battalion, 12th Frontier Force Regiment, which continued the infantry traditions of Queen Victoria’s Own Corps of Guides. His career brought him to the North-West Frontier, where British and Indian soldiers operated in difficult mountainous country. In 1933 he received the Military Cross for distinguished service during the Chitral Reliefs of September and October 1932.

While serving in India, he married Sophia Patricia, known as Jill. Both spoke Urdu. By September 1935 he was a captain and his battalion’s adjutant during operations against the Mohmand tribes.

On 29 September, the battalion attacked Point 4080. When its commander could obtain no information from the leading troops, Meynell went forward to investigate. He found them holding their objective against a much larger force and immediately assumed command.

With approximately thirty men and two Lewis guns, he directed sustained fire while the enemy approached from three sides. The attackers eventually reached the position, disabled both guns, and forced the defenders into close combat. Meynell was mortally wounded, and every man in his party was killed or wounded.

Throughout the struggle he sought to communicate with headquarters and encouraged his soldiers to continue resisting. Their defence inflicted casualties that prevented the attackers from exploiting the position they had gained. Meynell died that day, aged thirty-one, leaving no subsequent military career.

He was buried at Mardan, now in Pakistan. His Victoria Cross was announced on 24 December 1935. King Edward VIII presented the award to his widow at Buckingham Palace in July 1936. Their son Hugo was born after his father’s death.

Official Victoria Cross citation:

For most conspicuous gallantry and extreme devotion to duty.

On the 29th September, 1935, while operating against Mohmand tribesmen in the attack on Point 4080, Captain Meynell was Adjutant of the Battalion. In the final phase of the attack, the Battalion Commander was unable to get information from his most forward troops. Captain Meynell went forward to ascertain the situation and found the forward troops on the objective, but involved in a struggle against an enemy vastly superior in numbers. Seeing the situation he at once took over command of the men in this area. The enemy, by this time, was closing in on the position from three sides.

Captain Meynell had at his disposal two Lewis guns and about thirty men. Although this party was maintaining heavy and accurate fire on the advancing enemy, the overwhelming numbers of the latter succeeded in reaching the position. Both the Lewis guns were damaged beyond repair and a fierce hand to hand struggle commenced.

During the struggle Captain Meynell was mortally wounded and all his men were either killed or wounded.

Throughout the action Captain Meynell endeavoured by all means to communicate the situation to Headquarters, but determined to hold on at all costs and encouraged his men to fight with him to the last.

By so doing he inflicted on the enemy very heavy casualties which prevented them from exploiting their success.

The fine example Captain Meynell set to his men, coupled with his determination to hold the position to the last, maintain the traditions of the Army and reflect the highest credit on the fallen officer and his comrades.

London Gazette, 24 December 1935, p.8291.