The Victoria Cross, to date is the highest military award for gallantry given to British and Commonwealth soldiers. The medal displays a cross (with an impression of the Crown of Edward) on a crimson ribbon, and is made by Hancocks Ltd of London.
The medal board would seek the account of three eye witnesses to verify a medal recommendation. To date, 1,358 such medals have been awarded. In 1918, it was awarded to an old boy of S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia - Basil Arthur Horsfall.
Basil Horsfall was born on October 4, 1887, the youngest son of W F Horsfall, in Colombo. He was educated in Ceylon – S. Thomas’ College and at Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School, Marlow, in England, after which he returned to Ceylon where he is reported as working variously as a rubber planter, an accountant and a civil servant in the Public Works Department.
He was a member of the Ceylon Engineers, a locally-raised force of European expatriates largely drawn from the Public Works Department which was mobilized for the duration of World War I. In July 1916, aged 28, he returned to Britain where he was gazetted as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 1st Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment, on December 19, 1916.
According to East Lancashire Infantry Museum website, “Basil was wounded on May 11, 1917 while serving with the 1st Battalion and after recovery and convalescence in England was attached to the 11th (Service) Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment (the Accrington Pals) on October 24, 1917.
“On March 27, 1918 the Pals came under a very heavy attack as the Germans attempted to capture the village of Ayette, south of Arras. The Germans stormed the Pals’ positions again and again, with each side suffering heavy casualties.
“The forward lines were cut down by enemy fire and Basil was shot in the head. He refused to seek medical attention, and gathered the remaining platoons and held the line. This action motivated his men and they launched a counter attack. Finally, they were ordered to withdraw; Lieutenant Basil was the last man to leave the trench. Again he was shot many times and fell dead. For his act of altruism and conspicuous gallantry he became the first and only Ceylonese to receive the Victoria Cross. His name is registered in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC). Nearly 70 years later, one of his soldiers, ex-Private Arthur Cheetham, described Basil Horsfall’s final moments to the Pals local newspaper, the Accrington Observer:
“The order to retire came. Before we set off, 2/Lt Horsfall shouted ‘every man for himself’. Terrible words but a terrible situation to be in.
“2/Lt Horsfall was on my left as we started to cross an old airfield but 20 yards after we started he simply wasn’t there. Our company lost about 25 men crossing that airfield. There were five of us in my party and two didn’t make it. Of all the time I spent in France that was a day I will never forget.”
“Basil Horsfall’s body was never found. He is commemorated on the Arras Memorial. His Victoria Cross is kept in the Museum, and is one of their proudest possessions.”