Thomas Pryce
| Thomas Tannatt Pryce | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
17 January 1886 The Hague, Netherlands |
| Died |
13 April 1918 (aged 32) Vieux-Berquin, France |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom |
| Service/branch |
 British Army |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit |
Gloucestershire Regiment Grenadier Guards |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
| Awards |
_ribbon.png){kind=small} Victoria CrossMilitary Cross & Bar |
Thomas Tannatt Pryce VC MC & Bar (17 January 1886 – 13 April 1918) was a Netherlands-born Welsh recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
He was born at The Hague, son of Thomas and Rosalie Pryce, of Pentreheylin Hall, Montgomeryshire,[1] and educated at Shrewsbury School after preparatory schooling at Mill Mead School, Shrewsbury.[2]
He was a member of the London Stock Exchange.[1] He was a married man at time of his death.
Pryde originally served with the Honourable Artillery Company, which he joined in August 1914, transferred to the 6th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment in 1915, and again transferred, to the Grenadier Guards by the time of his VC award.[1]
Pryce was 32 years old and an acting captain in the 4th Battalion, Grenadier Guards, British Army, (S.R.) during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 11 April 1918 at Vieux-Berquin, France, Captain Pryce led two platoons in a successful attack on a village. Early next day he was occupying a position with some 40 men, the rest having become casualties. He beat off four enemy attacks during the day, but by evening the enemy were within 60 yards of his trench. A bayonet charge led by Captain Pryce drove them back some 100 yards, but he had only 17 men left with no ammunition when yet another attack came. He again led a bayonet charge and was last seen engaged in a fierce hand-to-hand struggle against overwhelming odds.[3]
His Victoria Cross is displayed at The Guards Regimental Headquarters (Grenadier Guards RHQ), London, England.
Memorials
Pryce's name is recorded on the Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing in Berks Cemetery Extension near Ploegsteert in Hainaut, Belgium. He has no known grave.[4]
He is listed on the Shrewsbury School's war memorial, and on a war memorial plaque at Mill Mead School, the latter of which was moved to St Giles' Church, Shrewsbury, following the closure of the latter school in 1966.[2]
References
- 1 2 3 Francis, Peter (2013). Shropshire War Memorials, Sites of Remembrance. YouCaxton Publications. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-909644-11-3.
- 1 2 Shropshire War Memorials, Sites of Remembrance. pp. 78,198.
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 30697. pp. 6057–6058. 21 May 1918. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
- ↑ "Casualty Details: Pryce, Thomas Tannatt". Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
- Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
- The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
- VCs of the First World War - Spring Offensive 1918 (Gerald Gliddon, 1997)
- Heart of a Dragon, the VCs of Wales and the Welsh Regiments, 1914-82 (W Alister Williams, 2008)