Richard Annand Captain Richard Wallace Annand VC , ERD , DL ( 5 November 1914 – 24 December 2004 ) 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 . Early life . Annand was born in South Shields , Tyne and Wear , England and was the son of Lieutenant - Commander Wallace Moir Annand . His father was killed with the Collingwood Battalion of the Royal Naval Division at Gallipoli in June 1915 . He was educated at Pocklington School , East Yorkshire . Upon leaving school he worked at the National Provincial Bank first at South Shields and then in Rugby and finally in London . Military career . In 1933 , Annand joined the Tyne Division of the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve as a midshipman . He was promoted to Sub - Lieutenant in 1936 and completed both a navigation and a gunnery course . In 1937 he applied for a commission in the Royal Navy but was refused because of his age . Annand was commissioned into the Supplementary Reserve of Officers as a Second Lieutenant of the Durham Light Infantry on 29 January 1938 . He was promoted to Captain on 28 January 1948 . He relinquished his commission due to disability on 29 December 1948 but retained the rank of Captain . Victoria Cross . " Dickie " Annand was 25 years old , and a second lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion , The Durham Light Infantry , British Army during World War II when a deed took place on 15 May 1940 , near the River Dyle , Gastuche , Belgium for which he was awarded the VC . This was the first Victoria Cross awarded to a member of the British Army in World War II . He was invested with the Victoria Cross by King George VI at Buckingham Palace on 3 September 1940 . The entry in the London Gazette concerning his Victoria Cross appeared in a supplement on 23 August 1940 . It read as follows : For most conspicuous gallantry on the 15th – 16th May 1940 , when the platoon under his command was on the south side of the River Dyle , astride a blown bridge . During the night a strong attack was beaten off , but about 11 a . m . the enemy again launched a violent attack and pushed forward a bridging party into the sunken bottom of the river . Second Lieutenant Annand attacked this party , but when ammunition ran out he went forward himself over open ground , with total disregard for enemy mortar and machine - gun fire . Reaching the top of the bridge , he drove out the party below , inflicting over twenty casualties with hand grenades . Having been wounded he rejoined his platoon , had his wound dressed , and then carried on in command . Richard Annand ' s platoon sergeant said later " Mr Annand came to me at platoon headquarters and asked for a box of grenades as they could hear Jerry trying to repair the bridge . Off he went and he sure must have given them a lovely time because it wasn ' t a great while before he was back for more . During the evening another attack was launched and again Second Lieutenant Annand went forward with hand grenades and inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy . When the order to withdraw was received , he withdrew his platoon , but learning on the way back that his batman was wounded and had been left behind , he returned at once to the former position and brought him back in a wheelbarrow , before losing consciousness as the result of wounds . Later life . On 11 February 1956 , Annand became a Deputy Lieutenant for the County of Durham . Upon retirement from the military , and because of the injuries he sustained during World War II , Annand became involved in helping disabled people . He was a founder member of the British Association for the Hard of Hearing , which became Hearing Concern in 1963 , and was also involved in the founding of the Durham County Association for the Disabled . Richard Annand died at Durham shortly after his 90th birthday on 24 December 2004 . His service uniform and his Victoria Cross are on display in the Durham Light Infantry Museum . Awards and decorations . Annand was awarded the Army Emergency Reserve Decoration and clasp on 29 January 1980 . Medal entitlement of Captain Richard Annand – 2nd Bn , Durham Light Infantry Personal life . He married Shirley Osborne in 1940 and celebrated their Diamond Wedding Anniversary on 9 November 2000 . They did not have any children .