John James Clements
John James Clements | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 19 June 1872 Middelburg, Cape Colony |
| Died | 18 June 1937 (aged 54) Newcastle, South Africa |
| Buried | Town Cemetery, Newcastle |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom Union of South Africa |
| Rank | Sergeant |
| Unit | Rimington's Guides |
| Battles / wars | Second Boer War World War I |
| Awards | Victoria Cross |
John James Clements VC (Middelburg, Cape Colony 19 June 1872 – 18 June 1937) was a South African 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.
Clements was 28 years old, and a corporal in Rimington's Guides, South African Forces during the Second Boer War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC:
On the 24th February, 1900, near Strijdenburg, when dangerously wounded through the lungs and called upon to surrender, Corporal Clements, threw himself into the midst of a party of five Boers, shooting three of them with his revolver, and thereby causing the whole party to surrender to himself and two unwounded men of Rimington's Guides.[1]
Clements later achieved the rank of Sergeant serving in World War I.
References
- ^ "No. 27320". The London Gazette. 4 June 1901.
- Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
- The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
- Victoria Crosses of the Anglo-Boer War (Ian Uys, 2000)