John Leslie Green

For other people named John Green, see John Green (disambiguation).
John Leslie Green

Captain J.L.Green
Born (1888-12-04)4 December 1888
Buckden, Huntingdonshire, England
Died 1 July 1916(1916-07-01) (aged 27)
Foncquevillers, France
Buried at Foncquevillers Military (CWGC) Cemetery
Allegiance  United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service 1914-1916 †
Rank Captain
Unit The Sherwood Foresters
Battles/wars World War I
Awards Victoria Cross

John Leslie Green VC (4 December 1888 – 1 July 1916) was an English 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.

Early life

Born in Buckden, Huntingdonshire to John George and Florence May Green, Green attended Felsted School, and went on to study medicine at Downing College, Cambridge, and St. Bartholomew's Hospital,in London.[1] At the outbreak of World War I he had not yet completed his medical studies, but was commissioned into the Royal Army Medical Corps. Green married Miss E M Moss on 1 January 1916.[2]

Military career

Green served as a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps, British Army, attached to 1/5th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters (The Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment). He saw action in the Battle of Loos. He was 27 years old, when he performed a deed for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross during the disastrous diversionary attack made by the 46th Division at Gommecourt on 1 July 1916 as part of the opening day of the Battle of the Somme.

Citation

For most conspicuous devotion to duty. Although himself wounded, he went to the assistance of an officer who had been wounded and was hung up on the enemy's wire entanglements, and succeeded in dragging him to a shell hole, where he dressed his wounds, notwithstanding that bombs and rifle grenades were thrown at him the whole time. Captain Green then endeavoured to bring the wounded officer into safe cover, and had nearly succeeded in doing so when he himself was killed.
— London Gazette, No. 29695, 4 August 1916[3]

His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Army Medical Services Museum in Aldershot, England.

Legacy

Leslie Green has a road named after him in Houghton, Cambridgeshire. He is listed on the Roll of Honour in the village church.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Green, John Leslie, Commonwealth War Graves Commission
  2. ↑ "John Leslie Green". hellfire-corner. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
  3. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 29695. p. 7743. 4 August 1916.

Further reading

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