Richard "Dickie" Annand told by Sir David Chapman
Creators: name: Project Team, Their Finest Hour
Publisher: name: University of Oxford
Year: 2024
Subjects: classificationCode: 430304
subject: British history
classificationCode: 430308
subject: European history (excl. British, classical Greek and Roman)
classificationCode: 430316
subject: International history

description: Captain Richard "Dick or Dickie" Annand, won the first Victoria Cross in the Second World War. In May 1940 the British forces were retreating to Dunkirk about 600 members of the Durham Light Infantry were charged with delaying the German advance at the River Dyle. It was a hugely critical operation in ensuring that the British troops could have time to retreat from Dunkirk. His platoon was trying to prevent the German troops from trying to cross the bridge but when their ammunition ran out:"He would rush forward and throw in grenades, throw in grenades and throw in grenades, and they would have to retreat and this happened two or three times a night and then it happened for the next two nights."Eventually, the order came to retreat then he realised that his Batman was missing so he went back for him but his Batman was badly injured; as was Dick himself. He found a wheelbarrow and placed the Batman in the wheelbarrow and push him along the road unfortunately there was a tree blocking the road which Dick could not pass as he himself was wounded. The Batman subsequently died of his wounds. At Dick's memorial service in Durham Cathedral where there were over a thousand people present, Brigadier Brims said "he should have got a VC and bar even two bars." His old platoon Sergeant also mentioned that he won the VC for his actions on the bridge and not for his rescue of the Batman with the wheelbarrow. Sir David said that everybody was very proud of him and "he's a hero in this part of the world." There is a little memorial garden created in the back of Durham Cathedral for him with a plaque.After Dunkirk he was so badly wounded he could not fight again and became a gunnery instructor but because of this work and his throwing grenades at the River Dyle, he became totally deaf. After the war, he became the secretary for Finchale College Training Centre for Disabled People where they trained hundreds of people.Sir David recently returned to the River Dyle near a little village called Gastuche and saw the River Dyle bridge which now looks very peaceful and just next to the bridge is a farm where he surmised that Dick got the wheelbarrow used to transport his wounded Batman.When Dick Annand died his VC was inherited by Sir David and it was on display in the former DLI museum at Durham now sadly closed. As it was Dickie's wish that the VC was on public display an alternative place to display it was needed. So he approached Lord Ashcroft who bought the medal and it is now on display in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery of Extraordinary Heroes in the Imperial War Museum with about 150 other VCs. With the proceeds of the sale: "We gave 85% to about 10 service charities, and then the rest to local charities here in South Shields, because Dick was very, very fond of South Shields."Dick did not talk much about his traumatic experiences as he was a"very, very modest man" and Sir David learned most of this account from Dick's wife Shirley.A photo was taken of Dick just after he had received his VC at Buckingham Palace and many years later the photo was used to make a full-sized statue of him which is in a"beautiful space" in the middle of South Shields Town Hall. Sir David was given a foot-high replica of this statue.Sir David then recalled the story of how "I as a newborn baby was born in 41, was in the pram on Undercliffe lawn and a German bomber for whatever reason, had to jettison its bombs, which it did the other side of, admittedly a range of trees and then a stone wall. But it was uncomfortably close I was told. So I might not have been here to tell that story!"For further details listen to the interview with Sir David Chapman or read the transcript attached.<br>