Harold Whitfield

He seized a machine gun and turned it upon counterattackers.

Harold Edward Whitfield grew up near Oswestry in Shropshire. His father had served in the Shropshire Yeomanry, and Harold joined that regiment in 1908 while working in agriculture. Mobilisation in August 1914 initially brought coastal defence duty in Britain. His unit did not leave for Egypt until March 1916, subsequently serving against the Senussi and with the Egyptian Expeditionary Force.

The yeomanry reorganised as infantry in 1917, joining the King's Shropshire Light Infantry as its 10th Battalion. Whitfield took part in the Palestine campaign, including the advance toward Jerusalem. The change from mounted soldiers to infantry placed these men in the difficult hill fighting north of the city in early 1918.

On 10 March, at Burj-el-Lisaneh during the Battle of Tell Asur, the battalion had captured a position when Ottoman troops counterattacked. A machine gun threatened the British flank. Whitfield attacked its position alone, killed the crew and used the captured weapon against the advancing soldiers. He then helped attack another gun position with grenades and held the forward post until reinforcements arrived. His initiative helped prevent the battalion's position being turned.

His unit moved to France in May. Promoted through lance corporal to sergeant, he received the Victoria Cross from King George V at Leeds on 31 May 1918. Oswestry subsequently welcomed him home with civic presentations.

After the war he returned to farming and dairy work while continuing in the Territorial yeomanry, eventually becoming a squadron sergeant major. He married Mary Tomley in 1925 and, following her death, married Rose Scoltock. His family life and employment remained centred on the Oswestry area.

Whitfield died on 19 December 1956 after being struck by an army vehicle while cycling home from work. He was buried in Oswestry Cemetery. His family later placed his surviving military possessions with the regimental museum in Shrewsbury.