Heroism honoured

Explosive shells rained down on the British HQ as German snipers picked off beleaguered troops. The Worcestershires had held their ground for three harrowing days against countless odds, and prospects were bleaker than ever.

GERMAN forces held the higher ground. They were greater in number and were better armed.

The boys from Blighty had run out of food and were down to their last ammunition as they struggled to defend Neuve Eglise – then in France, now in Belgium – which in April 1918 was the front line in the war to end all wars.

To make matters worse, the bravery of those in the front line had given their superiors time to set up another line behind them, from which shelling of German positions was about to start. The soldiers on the front line would then be trapped in the crossfire, probably with fatal consequences.

They had already seen the gravity of their situation. One officer volunteered to try to break out, but was cut down for his efforts.

The Worcestershires had already endured four tumultuous years of war as they had been part of the initial expeditionary force that crossed to Europe only nine days after the outbreak of war in 1914.

But this was their most dif- Heroism honoured A North-East family was among a British party of 100 attending a long- IN ASSOCIATION WITH ficult hour, trapped between their own guns and the enemy.

It fell to a second lieutenant, an Army storeman who had worked his way through the ranks from private, to step up to the mark and, like a comic book hero, charge from the shelter of the mayor’s residence with a small party of volunteers.

Bayonets fixed, they rushed a cow byre that was harbouring snipers, forcing them to flee and bringing some relief to the battered HQ.

Captain John James “Jack”

Crowe then attacked an enemy machine gun nest and, as his party fell around him, single-handedly took the position, using the German firearms to attack another and clearing a path for his troops to escape.

A crack shot and member of multi-award winning shooting teams, Jack was able to fire accurately and reload on the run as he took the key enemy positions – and all at the age of 41.

His bravery secured him the Victoria Cross, the French equivalent called the Criox de Guerre, and mentions in dispatches by Brigadier General Bernard “Monty” Montgomery, who would later become field marshal and a key figure in the Second World War.

He wrote of Capt Crowe and his men: “The battalion kept the enemy at bay for three days without rest and in the face of greatly superior numbers...

tenacity, when all seemed hopeless, opened a way to safety.

“The daring and gallantry of individual officers and men did much to prevent the effective use of larger forces at the enemy’s disposal and exacted a heavy price for every yard gained.”

But what has been absent, until now, is any official memorial to a professional soldier who showed exceptional bravery.

Barnard Castle School governor Simon Crowe and his son, Nicholas, who is head of school, have just returned from Belgium, where an official ceremony righted this wrong.

The great-great and greatgreat- great nephews of Jack Crowe, they were among a party of 100, including 40 of the family from across the world, invited on the visit to former battlefields near Ypres, which saw so much death and destruction during the First World War.

“The whole trip was incredibly moving,” said Nicholas, of Heighington, near Darlington, who has been approached by the Army to join the Officer Training Corps on the strength of his VC heritage.

“When the Last Post was played at the Menin Gate, it was particularly emotional.

The whole trip was very well done, respectfully covering him in the glory he richly deserved.

“There was an incredible presence in the area; you could really feel that so many people had lost their lives in such horrific circumstances.”

Simon, director of Niven Architects, in Darlington, said: “The war must have left Jack scarred by what he had seen and he never talked about it on his return. After leaving the Army, he became an educational welfare officer and died in 1965 aged 88.

“We did not know what to expect when we were invited to Belgium. We thought it would be low-key, but it wasn’t.

There were 5,000 people at the Menin Gate and all manner of civic dignitaries paying their respects.

“One of the most moving bits was when a piper played Amazing Grace and the crowd started humming along. It was then I noticed many of the men crying. We all felt so very proud. It hasn’t been something we have talked about enough in the family and it was a great opportunity to find out more about Jack.”

By an amazing coincidence, a second Barnard Castle boy was also on the trip. Harry Holden was accompanying his father, who is an Army historian.

Nicholas said: “I could not believe it. I had no idea Harry was going to be there, and when we pulled up in the car, he was there.”

Visitors were treated to a tour of the area, with Army historians talking them through the conflict.

A panel was unveiled chronicling the bravery of “Captain Jack” and there were speeches by his grand-daughters Doreen and Andrea, civic dignitaries and Major John Cotterell, of the Mercia Regiment, which absorbed the Worcestershire Regiment, who spoke proudly of Jack’s act of bravery in the face of extreme danger.

Nicholas, 18, said: “It has made me think differently and I may join the Officer Training Corps when I go to university later this year.

“It is making me consider different options. I am so incredibly proud of what Jack Crowe did, that it makes me want to try to live up to him.”