Thomas Patrick Neely

Four days after the battlefield action that earned him the Victoria Cross, Lance Sergeant Thomas Patrick Neely VC MM was killed in action at just 21 years old. Neely was born on 28 March 1897 at 13 Tabor Street in Poulton-cum-Seacombe, Wallasey, Cheshire, the son of James Herbert Neely, a journeyman gasfitter and labourer, and Mary Agnes Neely, née Egan. His surname also appears as Neeley in some contemporary records, although his birth certificate records Neely. One of seven children, he moved with his family to Walton, Liverpool, where he attended St Francis de Sales Roman Catholic School. After leaving school, he worked for J. Bibby & Sons Ltd, the Liverpool cattle-feed manufacturer.

Still only 17 when the First World War began, Neely enlisted in the British Army in September 1914. Because of his small stature, he initially served in a Bantam battalion of the Cheshire Regiment before transferring to the 8th Battalion, The King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment), with which he served under service number 32827. By 1918 the battalion formed part of the 76th Brigade, 3rd Division, on the Western Front. Neely's courage had already brought recognition before his Victoria Cross action. His Military Medal was announced in The London Gazette on 16 July 1918, when he was serving as a lance corporal. Soon afterwards he returned home on leave.

Neely returned to the front on 26 August 1918 and was promoted to corporal. His company commander encouraged him to apply for an officer's commission, but Neely chose to remain an NCO and continue serving with his men. On 27 September 1918, during the Battle of the Canal du Nord and the assault on the Hindenburg Line at Flesquières, France, heavy machine-gun fire from a flank brought his company's advance to a halt. Realising the danger, Corporal Neely dashed forward under point-blank fire with two other soldiers, overran the enemy positions and captured three machine guns. On two successive occasions he then rushed concrete strongpoints, killing or capturing their occupants. His initiative and fighting spirit were instrumental in clearing the fortified position and enabled his company to advance 3,000 yards along the Hindenburg support line.

For his extraordinary gallantry at Flesquières, Neely was immediately promoted in the field to lance sergeant. He had only four more days to live. On 1 October 1918, he was killed in action during the fighting near Rumilly-en-Cambrésis, south of Cambrai. He was 21. His Victoria Cross was announced posthumously in the Second Supplement to The London Gazette, published on 14 December 1918. More than a year after his death, King George V personally presented the Victoria Cross to Neely's parents at Buckingham Palace on 27 February 1920. Lance Sergeant Thomas Patrick Neely VC MM now lies in Masnières British Cemetery, Marcoing, France, remembered as a soldier whose courage at Flesquières helped break a heavily defended section of the Hindenburg Line in the final weeks of the First World War.