William Henry Grimbaldeston

Wounded, he forced thirty-six enemy soldiers into surrender.

William Henry Grimbaldeston was born at Blackburn in 1889. He worked in cotton mills from childhood and served in the territorial artillery before enlisting in the King’s Own Scottish Borderers in September 1914. Wounded at Loos, he spent months in hospital before returning to France.

On 16 August 1917 near Wijdendrift, Belgium, Acting Company Quartermaster-Sergeant Grimbaldeston of the 1st Battalion, King’s Own Scottish Borderers, saw another unit held up by a blockhouse. Though wounded, he arranged covering fire, approached its entrance and threatened the defenders with a grenade. He captured thirty-six men, six machine guns and a trench mortar, enabling the advance to continue.

Gassed the following day, he was evacuated to Britain and received his Victoria Cross that October. The citation recognised his initiative, coolness and determination in overcoming the blockhouse. France also awarded him the Croix de Guerre with a bronze star. Demobilised in 1919, he worked in Blackburn at the employment exchange, public halls and a savings bank. The effects of gas eventually forced retirement in 1949. He died on 13 August 1959 and was cremated at Pleasington.