SIR GEOFFREY VICKERS, VC.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BORN: 13^th October, 1894, Nottingham, son of Charles Henry and Jessica Anna Vickers, brother to William Burnell, Clara Tyrer and Florence Jones.

1901 Census has them living at No 8 Vickers Street, Parish of St Andrews, Nottingham.

1871 Census has his father living at 25 Lenton Road, Limits of the Castle, Nottingham.

Geoffrey Vickers was born and grew up in Nottingham, where his father Charles Henry Vickers ran a successful lace business, Vickers & Hine Ltd. He described his first day of school as, "school introduced me to the anguish reserved both for the non-conformist who wishes to conform, and the awkward who long to excel in dexterity.” He attended Bramcote, a preparatory school near Scarborough, and then Oundle, a public school, before entering Merton College, Oxford, where he briefly studied Classics from 1913 until the start of war.

He later described his home as, "A place of unalloyed happiness. The only stresses of the time came from the external world of school, or the internal world of awakening conflict and confusion ... I remember nothing desired that was satisfied by spending money of mine, and nothing that was denied for lack of money ... we moved by bicycle and bus, played in each other's gardens, and stayed in farmhouses.” He described his father as, "The best and most lovable man I ever knew; and be deemed to combine the two superlatives without the slightest effort.”

SERVED: 1/7^th Robin Hood Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters.

His education was interrupted by World War I. He and his brother, William Burnell Vickers, volunteered for service in the army. Charles joined The Sherwood Foresters (7th Robin Hood Battalion), and was in France before the end of 1914, first as a Second Lieutenant, and then as a temporary Captain in 1915. He was promoted to the rank of Major and Second in Command of The 1st Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment, in 1918.

Explaining his thoughts about going to war, he later wrote, "In August Germany invaded Belgium, we had a treaty with Belgium, so we all stopped what we were doing and went off to war. It was as simple as that.” He won the Victoria Cross for his actions on the 14th October, 1915, when he held a barrier across a trench in the Hohenzollern Redoubt, France, against heavy German bomb attacks (the 'bombs' of the citation were early grenades), ordering a second barrier to be built behind him in order to secure the safety of the trench, regardless of the fact that his own retreat would be cut off holding back the enemy for long enough for a second barrier to be completed.

His brother, Burnell, was killed in action in action in 1917.

In June, 1918, he commanded a Battalion in the Second Battle of the Marne, for which he was awarded the Belgian Croix de Guerre.

DATE OF GAZETTE: 18th November, 1915.

V.C. CITATION:

On 14th October, 1915, at the Hohenzollern Redoubt, France, when nearly all his men had been killed or wounded, and there were only two men available to hand him grenades, Captain Vickers held a barrier for some hours against heavy German bomb attacks, regardless of the fact that his own retreat would be cut off, he ordered a second barrier to be built behind him in order to secure the safety of the trench. Finally, he was severely wounded, but not before his courage and determination had enabled the second barrier to be completed.

 

After the war he returned to Oxford, and took a pass degree in French, European History and Law in 1919. He qualified as a solicitor in 1923 and, by 1926, was a partner in the leading London law firm of Slaughter and May.

Vickers served in World War II; he was re-commissioned as a Colonel, and was seconded as Deputy Director General at the Ministry of Economic Warfare, in charge of economic intelligence. From 1941 to 1945 he was a member of the Joint Intelligence Committee of the Chiefs of Staff. Charles Geoffrey Vickers was knighted in 1946.

He was also a member of the London Passenger Transport Board (1941–46), and the Council of Law Society (1944–48).

 

 

DIED: 16^th March, 1982.

BURIED: Oxford Road Crematorium, Oxford.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sir Charles Geoffrey Vickers, VC., 13th October 1894 – 16th March 1982, was an English lawyer, administrator, writer and pioneering systems scientist. He had varied interests, with roles at different times with the London Passenger Transport Board, Law Society, Medical Research Council and Mental Health Research Fund.

His military medals were left to the Sherwood Foresters Collection and are on display in Nottingham Castle

 

Medal Entitlement

Victoria Cross

1914 - 1915 Star

British War Medal 1914 - 1920

Victory Medal 1914 - 1919 & MiD Oakleaf

Defence Medal 1939 - 1945

War Medal 1939 - 1945

King George VI Coronation Medal 1937

Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal 1953

Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal 1977

Croix de Guerre France

Medal of Merit US