VC Recipient's Original Letter from WWI

[Adam H]

Gents,

Since we have a new British and Commonwealth Forum, I thought I'd show you all the following item that's in my collection. It's an interesting piece of correspondence from a Victoria Cross winner, written in the trenches on the Western Front. Since I'm not likely to ever own an original VC...I'm happy to have this bit of ephemera.

The letter was written by Spencer John BENT of the 1st Battalion East Lancashire Regiment. Here is the content of the letter as I am unsure whether it is entirely legible from the scan attached below:

"1st June 1917

Sir,

I respectfully beg to ask you the folllowing questions: Is it possible for me to get a Commission for services in the field or a recommendation from you Sir.

I am now Sgt Permanent Rank 2 years. Last with 1st Bn from March to end of September, rejoined the 7th Bn at my own request, with view to further promotion but not being able to get Permanent Rk am at a disadvantage. I'm at present in charge of a platoon. Capt Palmer R. W. MC is my Coy Officer.

A commission in the Field is the only thing now open to my advantage and knowing you have personal knowledge of myself in Peace Time as well as here. I'm asking you a Personal Favour for a reply. Have been unfortunate in not seeing you out here as you are quite close to us.

8581 Sgt. S. J. Bent V.C.
A Coy
7th East Lancs Regt
B.E.F.

I remain your obediant servant,

//Signed// S. J. Bent V.C.

Hoping a reply also a consideration in my appeal to you Sir as you are the only Regular Officer left as know me."

Below is a scan of the original letter:

Citation and biographical details to follow....

[Greeves]

Outstanding letter, Adam! By the way, did he ever get his commission?

[Rick Research]

Did he already have the VC when he wrote this?

Who did he write the letter to?

[Greeves]

Did he already have the VC when he wrote this?

Yes, he's used the postnominals VC after his signature. (Unless he was having a premonition... )

[Adam H]

VC Citation

Here is the citation for the VC as appeared in The London Gazette, 9th December, 1914:

On the night of 1/2 November 1914 near Le Gheer, Belgium, when his officer, the platoon sergeant and a number of men had been struck down, Drummer Bent took command of the platoon and with great presence of mind and coolness succeeded in holding the position. He had previously distinguished himself on two occasions, on 22 and 24 October by bringing up ammunition under heavy shell and rifle fire. Again, on 3 November, he brought into cover some wounded men who were lying, exposed to enemy fire, in the open.

A few Biographical Details: (courtesy http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWbent.htm)

John Bent was born at Stowmarket on 18th March, 1891. His father, Spencer Bent, was serving with the Royal Horse Artillery, and was later to be killed in the Boer War. At the age of fourteen Bent enlisted with the East Lancashire Regiment. After spending four years in Ireland he was based in Woking (1909-12) and Colchester (1912-14).

On the outbreak of the First World War, Bent went as a member of the British Expeditionary Force to France, and arrived in time to take part in the battles at the Marne and the Aisne Valley. In September his regiment was moved to Ypres in Belgium.

On 21st October the Germans captured the village of Le Gheer. Bent was a member of the 11th Brigade sent to recapture the village. Heavy fighting took place over the next few days. Eventually the British soldiers gained the village but on the 27th October the Germans launched a counter-attack.

One of the British soldiers, Private McNulty, was shot after leaving the trench. As he was being fired at by the Germans, Bent volunteered to go out and bring him back. McNulty was over 25 yards away and Bent came under heavy fire as he dragged the man to safety. Bent was awarded the Victoria Cross for his act of bravery. The medal was presented to Bent by King George V at Buckingham Palace on 9th December 1914.

Bent had been wounded in the leg while rescuing McNulty and it took several months to recover. Promoted to the rank of Sergeant, Bent returned to the Western Front in the summer of 1916. Badly injured at the Battle of the Somme, Bent was sent home to England.

After recovering his health he returned to the Western Front and on 3rd November 1918, won the Military Medal for "bravery in the field". Company Sergeant Major Bent remained in the British Army after the war, serving in the West Indies and Malta before retiring in July 1925.

After leaving the army Bent became a janitor at Paragon School in the New Kent Road, London. Later he worked as a commissionaire for Courage, the brewers. In August 1968 Bent was invited to open a new Courage public house, The Victoria Cross, in Chatham, Kent. Bent stayed with Courage until he was eighty-five years old. John Bent died the following year on 3rd May, 1977.

Bent's medals sold at auction in 1998 (DNW) for 80,000 GBP and apparently sold again more recently for 92,000 GBP (about $166,000 USD).

[Adam H]

Rick:

Yes...as you'll see above Bent's was one of the earliest VC's of WWI. He later went on to win a Military Medal (MM) in 1918.

I am not sure which officer of the 1st East Lancs he was writing to. I suppose this could be determined if one figured out who was the only "Regular Officer" still with the battalion in June 1917...i.e. who was left from the "Old Contemptibles" that went over with the battalion in 1914.

Bent won the VC as a Drummer...promoted to Sgt and eventually to Warrant Officer Class I (RSM...Regimental Sergeant Major). He was never commissioned. I don't know the details of why his request was refused...perhaps another forum member has some further knowledge of this.

Here is a picture of Bent that I have borrowed from victoriacross.net.

Cheers!

Adam

[leigh kitchen]

I thnk that I've got a duplicate "scrap" portrayal of Bent carrying out his VC action - about 3" high by 5" wide, slightly embossed card with glossy colour print. It'll take a month or two, but if I can find the thing you can have it, buckshee. Not sure if I've got a VC winners cigarette card of him - they're the sort of things that would look good framed up with the letter, colourful little period portrayals.

[Rick Research]

Ewww, I was so swept away by the narrative and the underlying class tension that I completely missed the postnominals.

Rather sad that it took a brewery's self-promotion to set him up in civilian life.

[leigh kitchen]

I thnk that I've got a duplicate "scrap" portrayal of Bent carrying out his VC action - about 3" high by 5" wide, slightly embossed card with glossy colour print. It'll take a month or two, but if I can find the thing you can have it, buckshee........

Sorry, can't find a duplicate, I may have already given it away, but here's the scrap of your mans VC action.

[Adam H]

Hello Leigh,

Thanks for posting that! Brings the event to life for me... The letter is actually getting a new home...it will be part of a display in Bent's home town (actually at the pub where he was born!) commemorating him. Hate to see it go but I think it will be better off there where more people can see it...

Cheers!

Adam

[Tony Farrell]

Blimey, small world. I know Stowmarket very well, as I used to be based at Wattisham when I was in the RAF. I've got friends up the road in Needham Market and I make regular visits to that part of the world. So... which pub did you say?

[leigh kitchen]

Hello Leigh,

... The letter is actually getting a new home...it will be part of a display in Bent's home town (actually at the pub where he was born!) commemorating him. Hate to see it go but I think it will be better off there where more people can see it...

Adam

I'd send them a photocopy & keep the original. Oh all right, I'd send them a good quality copy. I've let go of a few medals & the like because my "research" has led to living relatives of the person I'm researching & they understandably want them - I accept that they have a greater "right" to them than me, but I could never let that letter go permanently to a display somewhere. How secure is its future? If & when the pub closes down, who keeps it? Will it be firmly affixed to the wall, or could I get it off with my Swiss army knife when I pay a visit? I was logging on to say that I've found that I do still have a spare scrap as per the photo, by the way.

I've just had a squint at Gerald Cliddons "VCs of The First World War, 1914, it mentions that Bent claimed to have been born on a farm at Stowmarket but that most accounts state that he was born in the pub. The book gives his ultimate rank as CSM & indicates why Bent did'nt achieve higher rank.

[nellyp51]

Adam thank you for this awsome article mate.