Robert Vaughan Gorle

Lieutenant Robert Vaughan Gorle VC (14 May 1896 – 10 January 1937) was a distinguished officer of the Royal Field Artillery whose fearless leadership during the final weeks of the First World War earned him the Victoria Cross, the British Empire’s highest award for gallantry.

Born in South Africa, Gorle travelled to Britain during the Great War and was commissioned into the Royal Field Artillery. Serving on the Western Front, he commanded an 18-pounder field gun during the Allied Hundred Days Offensive. On 1 October 1918, at Ledeghem, Belgium, he repeatedly brought his gun into dangerously exposed positions under intense enemy fire, destroying German machine-gun posts by firing over open sights. When a determined enemy counterattack forced the supporting infantry to withdraw, Gorle galloped his gun ahead of the retreating troops and again engaged the machine-guns that threatened the advance. His conspicuous courage and complete disregard for his own safety inspired the wavering infantry to rally and recapture the northern end of the village. For these extraordinary actions he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

King George V presented Gorle with the Victoria Cross at Buckingham Palace on 14 June 1919. Following his demobilization, he returned to Southern Africa where he farmed near Fort Jameson in Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia. He married Ruth Thomas in 1924, and they raised three children. From 1929 until his death, he served as Sergeant-at-Arms and Librarian of the Parliament of Southern Rhodesia, earning a reputation for quiet professionalism and public service.

Lieutenant Robert Vaughan Gorle died in Durban, South Africa, on 10 January 1937 at the age of forty. He is buried in Stellawood Cemetery, where his grave bears the Victoria Cross emblem. His memory is further honoured by memorials in South Africa and the United Kingdom, including the Royal Artillery Memorial at Woolwich, the Royal Artillery Chapel at Larkhill, Gorle Road at Larkhill, and a Victoria Cross commemorative paving stone unveiled at Southsea in 2018. His Victoria Cross group is now part of the Lord Ashcroft Collection, preserving the legacy of one of the Royal Artillery’s bravest officers.