Bent left France in December and decided to stay in the army. Initially he served in the United Kingdom and in March 1920 he was appointed to the role of recruiting officer in Blackburn, Lancashire. He stayed in the town in lodgings with his wife. Later he served with his regiment in the West Indies. During this time he attended the funeral of Sgt. W.J. Gordon VC of the 1st West India Regiment, and had the honour of carrying his VC medals. Bent was also part of the Guard of Honour for the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey in November 1920.
In 1923 Bent received the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. He was finally discharged from the army while stationed in Malta in July 1925, by which time he had served for twenty years. In 1927 he was present at Mons for an Armistice Service – he was after all one of the ‘Old Contemptibles’. After leaving the army he became a janitor at the Paragon School, New Kent Road, London. In the Second World War Bent again served with his regiment. On 1 July 1950 he was present when new colours were presented to the 1st East Lancashires in Chester. In 1956 he attended the Centenary of the VC in Hyde Park, London. During that same year he retired from his job at the Paragon School and became a commissionaire.
The Bents had three children: Spencer Powell, born on 18 June 1920, Beryl Helena Bent, born in Jamaica on 13 November 1922, and Pauline Patricia Bent born on 5 September 1929. In later years Bent fell out with his son who at one time stood as a candidate for the Communist Party. In August 1968, when Bent was employed as a commissionaire with Courage, the brewers, he was invited to open a public house in Lordswood Lane, Chatham, Kent, named The Victoria Cross. The mayor of Chatham was at the ceremony along with the directors of the brewery. The service of hoisting the traditional ale garland, which signified that the beer was in good condition, was duly carried out by Bent himself. The inn sign was of a Victoria Cross, and a raised terrazzo in the shape of the medal was built for use as outdoor seating. Inside the public house the VC motive was continued in the saloon bar with a photo-mural and the walls were decorated in the VC colours. In addition a three and a half foot fibre-glass model of the award in bronze was also on display. Prints illustrating VC deeds were hung on the walls.
In his later years Bent seems to have become a rather belligerent man and was suspicious of historians researching his life history, often seemingly being on the defensive. An army major wrote a letter to Canon Lummis in 1949 in which he said the following of Bent: ‘He was not a clever man and probably would have had to relinquish his rank of CSM, had he not retired on pension. You will remember that many who were extremely brave in war did not possess great intelligence.’
An author, a Mrs Margaret Pratt, who was researching for a book on the lives of men who had been awarded the VC had a confrontation with Bent in June 1968. She wrote a distraught letter to Canon Lummis about Bent’s rudeness and his lack of cooperation in assisting her with information for her project. She had been an army welfare officer and had handled thousands of soldiers but ‘Bent was the very first British soldier ever to best me.’
Throughout his life Bent attended many functions and reunions, both in connection with his former regiment and the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association. He worked with Courage for thirteen years and finally retired in 1976 when he was eighty-five. In the same year he and Alice attended what was to be their last Somme Sunday Service together, on the sixtieth anniversary of the battle. Bent laid a wreath to his former colleagues’ memory. The following year on the occasion of the couple’s Diamond Wedding, they were given an anniversary dinner by the East Lancashire Regimental Association.
Bent died later that year in London on 3 May at the age of eighty-six, and his funeral was held at West Norwood Crematorium two days later. His ashes were scattered in rosebed 41, where there is a small plaque. Six weeks later on 15 June a service of thanksgiving for his life took place at the Chapel of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea.
Bent’s widow, Alice, lived on for another five years and died on 7 December 1984 aged ninety. Bent’s VC and medals, which included the MM and Russian Cross of St George, were displayed at the Imperial War Museum in 1978 and remained there until purchased by a former member of the East Lancashire Regiment for £11,000 on 27 June 1985 at Sotheby’s.
In the early years of the twenty-first centenary a decision was taken to put up a blue plaque to Bent’s memory on the Pickerel Inn, Stowmarket, and it was unveiled by his daughter Pauline on 2 November 2004 on the 90th anniversary of her father earning the VC.
Bent’s VC and medals were sold again on 28 June 2000 at the hammer price of £80,000 at auction. They were purchased by Lord Ashcroft.
J.F. VALLENTIN
Zillebeke, Belgium, 7 November
When war was declared the 1st South Staffordshire Regiment travelled from the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa to join up with the 22nd Brigade of the 7th Division. On 22 October 1914 the regiment joined the battalion in the fighting in the first Battle of Ypres which had begun three days earlier. It was continuously involved in heavy fighting during the next fortnight as the Germans were determined to capture the town of Ypres. The 22nd Brigade was involved in attacks near Zandvoorde, south-west of Gheluvelt, on the Menin road and two days later they lost a large number of men in the fighting near the Gheluvelt crossroads. On the 25th the South Staffordshires were put at the disposal of the 20th Brigade and lost 13 officers and 440 other ranks. On the 26th they were back with the 22nd Brigade and suffered yet again, this time at Kruiseecke, to the south-east of the Gheluvelt crossroads, which the enemy captured. On the 30th the 22nd Brigade was fighting at Zandvoorde again and it was during this time that Capt. Vallentin was wounded and sent to hospital in Ypres.
Although the BEF had been heavily outnumbered in the battle for Ypres, which was to continue until 22 November, the town had not fallen. The human cost to both sides was considerable but the enemy having more men in the field probably lost more. The South Staffordshires lost 80 per cent of their men including all their senior officers.
While in hospital Vallentin, who had distinguished himself in the fighting around the village of Gheluvelt, heard that his regiment was going to be involved in the fighting again. He therefore requested permission to rejoin and take command as he was the most senior officer remaining.
The following account is based on the 22nd Brigade War Diary (WO 95/1660, NA):
In the afternoon of 6 November the Germans had attacked part of the 4th Guards Brigade of the 2nd Division and occupied their trenches. It was decided that the 22nd Brigade should make an attack on these trenches in order to recover them. The 1st South Staffs were joined by the 2nd Royal Warwickshire Regiment and the 2nd Queen’s (Royal West Surrey) Regiment, also of the same Brigade. The German units were from the 30th and 39th Divs. and the French Army was to the 22nd Brigade’s right. Starting off at 04.00 a.m., 2 miles to the east of Zillebeke Vallentin personally led his men to the point of deployment from which the counter-attack was launched. The British had 1,100 men with 14 officers in the attack which was entirely successful. The Queen’s supported on the right by the 1st South Staffs with the R. Warwicks in reserve, drove the Germans from the previously British forward trenches and pushed on a further 100 yards. Three machine guns were captured and the enemy suffered considerable losses. The main lines of enemy trenches lay about 150 yards inside a wood, part of which consisted of very thick undergrowth and presented great difficulty to the advance. The Germans brought forward a considerable quantity of infantry and delivered a counter-attack which forced back the British to the edge of the wood, where the German trenches made during the night were … The position was held all day, but it was decided to withdraw to the trenches which had been dug on a line about 600 yards in rear as the present positions formed a salient with the left flank exposed. The French troops not having come up on the right as expected and agreed upon.
Vallentin, who had personally led his men against the Germans was soon wounded again. Pressing on with the charge he was caught by a burst of machine-gun fire. Neverth
eless, the vital trench had been recaptured, owing in full measure to the captain’s extreme courage, for which he was rewarded with a posthumous VC. He was also mentioned in despatches in January 1915. His VC was gazetted on 18 February and presented to his mother.
John Franks Vallentin was the son of Mr and Mrs Grimble Vallentin. He was born in Lambeth on 14 May 1882. He was also the grandson of Col. Finnis, the first victim of the Indian Mutiny. His uncle, Maj. Vallentin, was killed in the Boer War.
Vallentin’s home was in Hythe in Kent. He was educated at Wellington College and at the age of seventeen joined the 6th (Militia) Battalion Rifle Brigade and became a lieutenant in July 1900. The unit was stationed at The Curragh in Ireland for a year after the beginning of the Boer War. Vallentin transferred to the 3rd (Militia) Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment and served with it for three years in South Africa between 1899 and 1902. He took part in the operations in the Orange River Colony and also in Transvaal. He subsequently received the Queen’s Medal and five clasps.
In July 1903 he received a regular commission in the Royal Garrison Regiment. He transferred to the South Staffordshire Regiment as second lieutenant in June 1905. He was promoted to lieutenant in September 1907 and to captain in June 1909.
Vallentin’s posthumous VC was presented to his mother, Mrs Grimble Vallentin, at Buckingham Palace on 16 November 1916. Mrs Vallentin erected a memorial plaque to the memory of her son in St Leonard’s parish church, Hythe. There is also a memorial to him in the garrison church, Whittington Barracks, Lichfield. He is also commemorated with a memorial in St Mary-at-Lambeth church, South London.
Vallentin’s body was never found and his name is included in the panels of the Missing on the Menin Gate – on panels 35 and 37. In 1924 his mother presented a set of silver to the regiment in memory of her son. His VC is in the possession of Wellington College, Crowthorne, Berkshire.
W.L. BRODIE
Near Becelelaere, Belgium, 11 November
The 2nd Highland Light Infantry was part of the 5th Brigade of the 2nd Division, along with the 6th Brigade, and the 4th (Guards) Brigade. They arrived in France in August 1914 and took a brief part in the fighting at Mons and then helped to repair damaged roads at Etreux a few days later. They also fought in the Battles of the Marne and Aisne, before going northwards to the Ypres Salient. They were, like so many British regiments, to become heavily involved in the desperate fight to prevent Ypres from falling into German hands.
On 23 October the 2nd Division, having defeated a German attack, was relieved in its trenches in front of Poelcappelle, to the east of Langemarck. It re-assembled a mile to the east of Ypres, on the Menin road at the infamous Hellfire Corner. The Division was used again as part of a I Corps attack. The 2nd HLI was in a defensive brigade position close to Polygon Wood, due north of Gheluvelt. There was no possibility of being able to improve their trench positions, as they were under constant shellfire and were also interrupted by occasional infantry attacks. It was equally dangerous for both sides. The Germans were members of the 54th Reserve Division, of their Fourth Army, and they adopted the same tactics as the British, namely to sap towards the other’s positions. In places the lines were extremely close to one another. Raiding parties armed with grenades and bayonets could appear at any time.
The Salient, 11 November
On 7 November, according to the Battalion War Diary (WO 95/1347, NA), signed by Lt. Col. A. Wolfe Murray: ‘The 2nd HLI were on the extreme left of the 2nd Division’s positions, close to Polygon Wood. To their right was the British 3rd Division and beyond them were units of the French Army. Together these units formed a crescent shape which half encircled the beleagured town.’
B Company trenches under the command of Capt. Buist, were little more than 15 yards from the German positions. The company expected an attack at any time and hid behind the parados. They did not have long to wait and at 04.30 hours they were suddenly attacked by a party of about three hundred Germans. The Highlanders jumped down on their attackers and inflicted great carnage, in a hand to hand fight, where the bayonet was the predominate weapon. In the morning light it was discovered that about eighty Germans had been killed, mostly by the bayonet, but some by Capt. W.L. Brodie’s two Maxim machine guns. About fifty-four Germans were taken prisoner.
It had been the German plan to capture the guns and turn them against the Highlanders. However, despite the guns being momentarily captured, Capt. Brodie personally bayoneted four men and shot five others. The losses of the HLI amounted to one officer, sixteen other ranks and twenty-eight wounded or missing. It was this incident, for which Brodie gained the VC, an incident that he was to describe in a letter home as ‘a bit of a scrape’. Sir John French was very supportive of Brodie being awarded a VC (WO 32/4993, NA).
Brodie’s VC was gazetted on the 12 December. The citation records the date of the VC as 11 November whereas Regimental records state it was 7 November. Brodie was the second man from Edinburgh to win the VC in the First World War – Pte. George Wilson being the first. He received his decoration from the King at Windsor Castle on 17 July 1915.
Walter Lorrain Brodie was the son of Mr and Mrs John Brodie. He was born at Belgrave Crescent, Edinburgh on 28 July 1885. His father was a chartered accountant. Walter Brodie was educated at Edinburgh Academy and from there went to the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. He obtained a commission when he was eighteen years old with the Highland Light Infantry in March 1904. He joined the 2nd Battalion in Jersey and was stationed subsequently at the Castle in Edinburgh and at Fort George. He passed through various courses successfully and became an expert on the use of machine guns. He was promoted to lieutenant on 30 June 1908. In the period from 1909 to 1913 his regiment was stationed in Ireland. In 1913, the year before the First World War broke out, his battalion moved to Aldershot and in August 1914 Brodie left for France as battalion Machine-Gun Officer. A few days later, on 10 September he was made up to captain.
In January 1917 Brodie was awarded the Military Cross. At the end of that year he took command of the 2/10th Liverpool Scottish and was made a brevet major the following January. In April 1918 he was back with his former battalion as Commanding Officer – something he had always wished for.
In the Battle of Albert, which began on 21 August 1918, the 3rd Division advanced on Gomiecourt with the 5th Brigade in reserve. If the 3rd Division was successful the plan was for the 5th Brigade to attack the line Behagnies–Sapignies while the Highlanders were to take Behagnies, near Moeuvres, with the assistance of ‘whippet tanks’. They crossed the Achiet-le-Grand railway and wheeled round the edge of Gomiecourt under heavy fire. The leading units established themselves 500 yards to the north-west of Behagnies but Brodie was killed along with 160 other casualties. They had found Behagnies a harder position to take than had been thought. Brodie was killed eleven weeks before the end of the war; he was shot by a bullet and died instantaneously.
A brother officer wrote the following about his former colleague:
From the first he entered the regimental spirit with enthusiasm, and his love for and pride in the regiment were unbounded… . He was keen on all sports … [and when in Ireland] he took to hunting very eagerly. [In the war] … His machine gunners soon proved themselves worthy of the labour he had expended on them … he had much hard fighting as Company Commander with his old battalion in 1915, especially in the neighbourhood of Richebourg, Givenchy and Festubert. Later he was attached for intelligence duties to the Staff, first of Sir Hubert Gough, and afterwards of Sir Henry Rawlinson, and later became Brigade Major of 63rd Infantry Brigade in May 1916. Brodie had taken an active part in the 1916 Somme battle and Arras battles and other engagements in 1917. He was a professional soldier in the very best sense and he was delighted when he was given command of his battalion.
Brodie was buried in Bienvillers Military Cemetery, 10 miles east of Doullens, plot XVIII, row F, grave 15. His medals are not publicly held.
J.H.S. DIMMER
Klein Zillebeke,
Belgium, 12 November
The 2nd King’s Royal Rifle Corps was sent to France in August 1914 with the BEF and served with the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Division of I Corps. The other two brigades in the division were the 1st (Guards) Brigade, and the 3rd Brigade
The main part of the Battle of the Aisne was fought in mid-September. In the small hours of 14 September, in pouring rain and mist the KRRC was part of the divisional attack launched from the village of Vendresse with the high ground above the small hamlet of Troyon as its target. Once this ground was secured, it would then allow the rest of the Division to proceed. At about 04.45 hours, the leading company of the battalion, accompanied by the 9th (Queen’s Royal) Lancers, reached the top of the hill and came up against a German piquet. Reinforcements were called up as the Germans seemed to be present in considerable numbers. The right flank was protected by the 1st Northamptonshire Regiment of the same brigade as the riflemen and leading companies of the 2nd Royal Sussex Regiment moved westwards to try and take the enemy in the flank. There was fierce fighting between the hamlet of Troyon and the sugar factory to the north.
Three days later, a White Flag incident occurred there – these were common in the early stages of the war. The usual pattern was that one section of the enemy decided to surrender flinging up its hands and displaying at least one white flag. On this particular occasion most of the officers of the 1st Northamptonshire Regiment (2nd Brig. 1st Div.) had been killed. Capt. Savage of B Company, however, left his front trench along with Lt. Dimmer as it was rumoured that the enemy was showing the White Flag and laying down their arms. Savage climbed out of his trench and lay down his revolver and sword and marched the few yards to the German positions. Dimmer was close behind him. Savage and a German officer saluted one another and were seen to converse for about five minutes. The two British officers then began to walk back to their trenches when Dimmer turned to look back at the enemy and saw them levelling their rifles. He shouted to Savage to get down but it was too late and Savage’s body was riddled with bullets and he died immediately. Many Northamptons became casualties during this incident until a machine gun from the 1st Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment) retaliated.
VCs of the First World War 1914 Page 19
