Thomas Orde Lawder Wilkinson

He fought with a recovered gun and died attempting a rescue.

Thomas Orde Lawder Wilkinson was born on 29 June 1894 at Quatt in Shropshire, where his father Charles Ernest worked as a farmer and land agent on the Dudmaston estate. His mother Edith Mary, née Lawder, had been a teacher. He attended Parkside School at Ewell and Wellington College, joining the Officers' Training Corps and gaining distinction as a school boxer.

The family emigrated to Canada in 1912. Wilkinson worked as a student surveyor in British Columbia, including the Comox and North Burnaby areas. When war began he enlisted in the 16th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, on 23 September 1914 and sailed for Britain in October. He subsequently obtained a British Army commission in the 7th Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, on 23 December. He went to France in July 1915 and became a lieutenant in February 1916.

During the Somme fighting on 5 July 1916, near La Boisselle, an attack stalled in front of German positions. Wilkinson saw men of another unit retiring and leaving a machine gun behind. With two companions he recovered the gun and brought it into action, keeping the enemy back until another party could take over.

He then found soldiers held up by an earth barrier across a trench, with German bombers attacking from the other side. He mounted a machine gun on the parapet and used it to disperse them. A wounded man still lay exposed. Wilkinson attempted to reach him, returned, and made another attempt. On this second rescue effort he was shot through the heart and killed.

The official Victoria Cross citation emphasizes the combination of initiative with the abandoned gun, assistance to the blocked party and repeated efforts to save the casualty. Its substance is reproduced by the UK government at https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/ww1-canadian-vc-recipient-thomas-orde-lawder-wilkinson. These were successive actions during the same day's fighting, not separate awards.

Wilkinson was twenty-two. His body was not recovered for an identified burial, and his name is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing, pier and face 11A. His father received the posthumous Victoria Cross from King George V later in 1916. His medal group also includes the 1914–15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal, reflecting the overseas service that began before the end of 1915. His story connects a British upbringing, a young civilian working life in Canada and service in both the Canadian and British armies.

Victoria Cross citation

For most conspicuous bravery. During an attack, when a party of another unit was retiring without their machine gun, Lieutenant Wilkinson rushed forward, and with two of his men, got the gun into action, and held up the enemy until they were relieved. Later, when the advance was checked during a bombing attack, he forced his way forward and found four or five men of different units stopped by a solid block of earth, over which the enemy was throwing bombs. With great pluck and promptness he mounted a machine-gun on the top of the parapet and dispersed the enemy bombers. Subsequently he made two most gallant attempts to bring in a wounded man, but at the second attempt he was shot through the heart just before reaching the man. Throughout the day he set a magnificent example of courage and self-sacrifice.