The First Victoria Cross of World War II Went to a Gallipoli Orphan

2nd Lt. Richard Wallace Annand, VC

Richard Wallace Annand was born in Westoe, South Shields, County Durham, on 5 November 1914. He was the son of Lieutenant Commander Wallace Annand (1887–1915), who served with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) during the Great War, and his wife Elizabeth (née Chapman). Richard was just seven months old when his father was killed at Gallipoli, and an uncle became his guardian.

His father, Wallace, had joined the RNVR as midshipman on 11 April 1907, being attached to HMS Satellite on the Tyne. On the creation of the Royal Naval Division, he was promoted lieutenant and was initially employed training men until appointed to the Division's Collingwood Battalion. Just before leaving the camp at Blandford, he was gazetted lieutenant-commander, 8 May 1915. Wallace Annand was killed near Achi Baba, Gallipoli and was buried on the battlefield. His body was never discovered. His name is listed on the Cape Helles Memorial. An unidentified officer afterward sent a letter to his family:

On June 4th (in the third battle of Krithia) he was well in advance during the big attack, urging the men on, and was shot early in the engagement at about the same time as the C.O. His loss is irreparable. he was a man of infinit tact and strong personal character, which commanded respect from all his seniors and endeared him to all of inferior rank.

Lt. Cmdr. Wallace Annand

Richard Annand, who was known to his school friends as "Dickie," was educated at Pocklington School, East Yorkshire. After leaving school, he worked for the National Provincial Bank from 1933–1937, first in its South Shields branch and later in Rugby, Warwickshire, and London. His move to the capital saw him attend three nights of drill on HMS President stationed on the River Thames, for he intended to follow his father into naval service.   In 1937, Annand applied for a commission in the Royal Navy as a seaman officer but was refused on the grounds that, at 22, he was too old. However, he was still young enough for an army commission and, in January 1938 (by then 23), Annand was gazetted as a second lieutenant into the Durham Light Infantry (DLI), thereby ending his career as a banker.

After one month’s army training in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, he was attached to the regiment’s 2nd Battalion based at Woking, Surrey. On 26 September 1939, Annand joined the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France. Then, in October of that year, he moved to Bercy, Lille, on the Belgian frontier during the so-called Phoney War. . . As the assaults on the Low Countries progressed, the River Dyle in Belgium formed an Allied  defensive line, east of Brussels. It was on one night in May that Annand, then aged 25, distinguished himself in resisting a fierce German attack.

The citation for his VC, published on 23 August 1940, detailed his action: 

“For most conspicuous gallantry on 15-16 May 1940, when the platoon under his command was on the south side of the River Dyle, astride a blown bridge. During the night a strong attack was beaten off, but about 11am the enemy again launched a violent attack and pushed forward a bridging party into the sunken bottom of the river. Second Lieutenant Annand attacked this party, but when ammunition ran out he went forward himself over open ground, with total disregard for enemy mortar and machine gun fire. Reaching the top of the bridge, he drove out the party below, inflicting over 20 casualties with hand grenades. Having been wounded, he re-joined his platoon, had his wound dressed, and then carried on in command.

“During the evening another attack was launched and again Second Lieutenant Annand went forward with hand grenades and inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy. When the order to withdraw was received, he withdrew his platoon, but learning on the way back that his batman was wounded and had been left behind, he returned at once to the former position and brought him back in a wheelbarrow, before losing consciousness as the result of wounds.”

Annand was evacuated back to the UK for hospital treatment of his injuries, which included the loss of some hearing.  Annand later lost the rest of his hearing during rifle training, as a consequence of which he served the remainder of the war in the UK. His tasks included training commandos in Scotland and working in the War Office. 

The Old Warrior

In 1948, Annand was invalided out of the army as a captain, having declined the opportunity to be transferred from the DLI. For the next three decades, Annand devoted himself to the welfare  of the disabled, including those people who were deaf or hard of hearing. From 1948–1970, he was personnel officer for the Finchale Abbey Training Centre for the Disabled near Durham. His other roles included being president of the Durham County Branch of the Normandy Veterans, president of the Durham County Association for Disabled; deputy lieutenant of Durham and president of the Durham and Cleveland branch of the Royal British Legion. He was also president of the North East League of the Hard of Hearing and a founder member of the British Association of the Hard of Hearing.

Once a brave man, always a brave man. On 26 February 1979, when aged 64, Annand saved his wife’s life by diving into the bitterly cold River Tyne in the dark after she had fallen off a ship’s gangplank. The couple, who did not have children, celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary on 9 November 2000. Annand died at the University Hospital of North Durham on Christmas Eve 2004.

Sources: Find a Grave:  www.britainatwar.com