Beachcroft Towse

Sir Ernest Beachcroft Towse
Sir Ernest Beachcroft Towse
Born	23 April 1864; Westminster, London
Died	21 June 1948 (aged 84); Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire
Buried	St Thomas of Canterbury Churchyard, Goring
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	British Army
Years of service	1885 - 1900
Rank	Captain
Unit	The Gordon Highlanders
Battles / wars	Chitral Expedition; Tirah Campaign; Second Boer War; World War I
Awards	Victoria Cross; Royal Victorian Order; Order of the British Empire; Order of St John;
Other work	Patron of blind and military charities

Sir Ernest Beachcroft Beckwith Towse VC KCVO CBE (23 April 1864 – 21 June 1948) 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.

Details

Towse was 35 years old, and a captain in the 1st Battalion, The Gordon Highlanders, British Army during the Second Boer War when the following deeds led to the award of the Victoria Cross:

On the 11th December, 1899, at the action of Majesfontein, Captain Towse was brought to notice by his Commanding Officer for his gallantry and devotion in assisting the late Colonel Downman, when mortally wounded, in the retirement, and endeavouring, when close up to the front of the firing line, to carry Colonel Downman on his back; but finding this not possible, Captain Towse supported him till joined by Colour-Sergeant Nelson and Lance-Corporal Hodgson. On the 30th April, 1900, Captain Towse, with twelve men, took up a position on the top of Mount Thaba, far away from support. A force of about 150 Boers attempted to seize the same plateau, neither party appearing to see the other until they were but 100 yards apart. Some of the Boers then got within 40 yards of Captain Towse and his party, and called on him to surrender. He at once caused his men to open fire and remained firing himself until severely wounded (both eyes shattered), succeeding in driving off the Boers. The gallantry of this Officer in vigorously attacking the enemy (for he not only fired, but charged forward) saved the situation, notwithstanding the numerical superiority of the Boers.^[1]

Queen Victoria, it is said, shed tears when pinning the decoration. Possibly at her instance, The War Office awarded Towse with a special wounds pension of £300 a year.^{[citation needed]}

Further information

He had previously distinguished himself with the Chitral Expedition in 1895, and in the Tirah Campaign on the North-West Frontier of India in 1898. He retired from the army in February 1902.^[2] His VC action left him blind and he spend much of the rest of his life in work with the blind. He served in the First World War as a staff officer working with the wounded in hospital. Towse was chairman of the British and Foreign Blind Association and in 1940 gave his house as its first rehabilitation centre. He also founded the British Wireless for the Blind Fund in 1929^[3] and was a trustee of The Association for Promoting the General Welfare of the Blind (GWB, now known as CLARITY - Employment for Blind People). He provide GWB a grant of £500,^[4] which enabled them to start making soap.

He was a Vice Patron of St Dunstan's (now Blind Veterans UK) from 1946 until his death in 1948

The medal

His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Gordon Highlanders Museum, Aberdeen, Scotland.

Medal Entitlement

Ribbon	Description	Notes
	Victoria Cross (VC)	6 July 1900
	Royal Victorian Order (KCVO)	1927
	Order of the British Empire (CBE)	Civil Division - 1920
	Venerable Order of St John (K.StJ)	1916
	India Medal	3 Clasps Relief of Chitral 1895 Punjab Frontier 1897-98 Tirah 1897-98
	Queen's South Africa Medal	3 Clasps CAPE COLONY PAARDEBERG DRIEFONTEIN
	1914-15 Star
	British War Medal
	World War I Victory Medal	With Mentioned in dispatches Oakleaf
	King Edward VII Coronation Medal	1902 - Military Version of this Medal
	King George V Coronation Medal	1911 - Military Version of this Medal
	King George V Silver Jubilee Medal	1935
	King George VI Coronation Medal	1937