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3 unusual facts about Thomas Whitham


Thomas Whitham

He was 29 years old, and a private in the 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards, during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

Thomas Whitham VC (11 May 1888, Worsthorne, Lancashire – 22 October 1924, Oldham) 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.

On 31 July 1917 at Pilckem near Ypres, Belgium, during an attack an enemy machine-gun was seen to be enfilading the battalion on the right.


Jack Whitham

Whitham was born in Burnley on 8 December 1946; his grandfather Thomas Whitham of the Coldstream Guards had won the Victoria Cross in 1917 for attacking single-handed an enemy machine gun post.


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