Maurice James Dease

At the Battle of Mons on 23 August 1914, Lieutenant Maurice James Dease continued directing his machine guns despite repeated wounds, refusing to abandon his men during one of the British Army's first major engagements of the First World War.

Born on 28 September 1889 in County Westmeath, Ireland, Dease was educated at Stonyhurst College and Wimbledon College before attending the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Commissioned into the Royal Fusiliers in 1910, he rose to lieutenant and served with the regiment's 4th Battalion, part of the British Expeditionary Force sent to France in August 1914.

At Nimy, north of Mons, Dease commanded two machine guns defending the railway bridge over the Mons-Condé Canal. As German attacks intensified, his crews suffered devastating casualties. Dease repeatedly crossed exposed ground to keep the guns firing, help replace wounded gunners and direct the defence. Despite severe wounds, he remained at his post until he was incapacitated. Lieutenant F. W. A. Steele carried him to safety, but Dease died from his injuries. Private Sidney Frank Godley continued the defence and was also awarded the Victoria Cross.

Dease received the Victoria Cross posthumously, announced in the London Gazette on 16 November 1914, for his exceptional courage in continuing to control his machine guns despite repeated wounds. He was also Mentioned in Despatches. His other awards were the 1914 Star with clasp, British War Medal and Victory Medal.

One of the first posthumous Victoria Cross recipients of the First World War, Maurice James Dease is buried at St Symphorien Military Cemetery, Belgium, in Plot V, Row B, Grave 2. His medals are preserved at the Fusilier Museum in the Tower of London.