Gordon Muriel Flowerdew

Lieutenant Gordon Muriel Flowerdew, VC (02 January 1885 – 31 March 1918), army service number 2505, was an English-born Canadian officer who was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry in the First World War. Born at Billingford Hall, Norfolk, England, Flowerdew completed his secondary education at Framlingham College in Suffolk. After suffering a serious attack of pleurisy in 1903, he emigrated to Canada in search of farming opportunities and settled in Saskatchewan and British Columbia. He settled in the orchard area of ​​Walhachin in British Columbia. There worked as a rancher, store manager and butcher. His keen interest in horse riding inspired him to join the local militia, the 31st Regiment of British Columbia Horse, in 1911. He distinguished himself in regional steeplechase and target shooting competitions.

When the First World War began in September 1914, Flowerdew volunteered for overseas service with the Canadian Expeditionary Force at Valcartier, Quebec, on 25 September 1914. He was embodied into Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) and deployed to the Western Front in May 1915. Demonstrating aptitude for field leadership, he advanced from private to lance sergeant before receiving a field commission as a temporary lieutenant on 26 March 1916. He sustained a slight wound during frontline operations on 19 May 1917. By January 1918, military superiors assigned Flowerdew to command C Squadron of Lord Strathcona's Horse within the Canadian Cavalry Brigade.

The strategic situation on the Western Front changed dramatically with the start of the German spring offensive, Operation Michael, on 21 March 1918. As German divisions continued to advance through Allied defences along the banks of the Somme River, their advance threatened the vital railway hub of Amiens. Allied commanders deployed the Canadian Cavalry Brigade to plug gaps along the Avre River valley. On 30 March 1918, German infantry secured footholds inside Moreuil Wood, a forested ridge providing observation over the approaches to Amiens. Ordered to recapture the tactical feature, Flowerdew manoeuvred C Squadron into position near the northeastern corner of the wood.

Arriving at the initial line, Flowerdew saw two lines of German infantry of about sixty men, with heavy machine guns in the centre and on either side. Recognizing that an immediate assault was necessary to prevent enemy consolidation, Flowerdew detached one troop under Lieutenant Frederick Maurice Watson Harvey, VC, to dismount and deliver flanking fire, while personally leading the remaining three mounted troops in a direct sabre charge. The squadron galloped over both German defensive trenches, inflicting casualties with cavalry swords. Wheeling his forces about under intense defensive fire, Flowerdew led a second pass across the enemy lines, forcing the surviving infantry to break and retreat.

Concentrated machine-gun fire inflicted seventy percent casualties on C Squadron during the engagement. Flowerdew suffered severe gunshot wounds to both legs. Despite his injuries, surviving troopers consolidated the defensive perimeter and held the position until reinforcements arrived. Field medical personnel evacuated Flowerdew to a nearby field hospital, where surgeons performed an emergency leg amputation. Flowerdew died from surgical complications and blood loss the following day, 31 March 1918, at age thirty-three.

The official citation for his Victoria Cross appeared in the Second Supplement to the London Gazette on 24 April 1918 (Issue 30648):

"For most conspicuous bravery and dash when in command of a squadron detailed for special service of a very important nature. On reaching the first objective, Lieutenant Flowerdew saw two lines of the enemy, each about sixty strong, with machine guns in the centre and flanks, one line being about two hundred yards behind the other. Realising the critical nature of the operation and how much depended upon it, Lieutenant Flowerdew ordered a troop under Lieutenant Harvey, V.C., to dismount and carry out a special movement while he led the remaining three troops to the charge. The squadron (less one troop) passed over both lines, killing many of the enemy with the sword; and wheeling about galloped at them again. Although the squadron had then lost about 70 per cent of its numbers, killed and wounded, from rifle and machine-gun fire directed on it from the front and both flanks, the enemy broke and retired. The survivors of the squadron then established themselves in a position where they were joined, after much hand-to-hand fighting, by Lieutenant Harvey’s party. Lieutenant Flowerdew was dangerously wounded through both thighs during the operation, but continued to cheer on his men. There can be no doubt that this officer’s great valour was the prime factor in the capture of the position."

Flowerdew was interred in Plot I, Row H, Grave 1 of Namps-au-Val British Cemetery in the Somme district of France, located eleven miles southeast of Amiens. King George V presented his posthumous Victoria Cross to his mother, Hannah Flowerdew, during a private audience at Buckingham Palace on 29 June 1918. Artist Alfred Munnings captured the action in his 1918 canvas Charge of Flowerdew's Squadron, currently held in the national collection at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.