Walter Norris Congreve General Sir Walter Norris Congreve VC KCB MVO DL ( 20 November 1862 – 28 February 1927 ) 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 . He was 37 years old , and a captain in The Rifle Brigade ( Prince Consort ' s Own ) , British Army during the Second Boer War when he won the VC . Early career . Walter Norris Congreve was the son of William and Fanny E . Congreve of Castle Church , Stafford . He was educated at Twyford School , Harrow School and Pembroke College , Oxford . He married Cecilia Henrietta Dolores Blount La Touche at St Jude ' s Church , Kensington , on 18 May 1890 . Action at Colenso . On 15 December 1899 at the Battle of Colenso , South Africa , Captain Congreve with several others , tried to save the guns of the 14th and 66th Batteries , Royal Field Artillery , when the detachments serving the guns had all become casualties or been driven from their guns . Some of the horses and drivers were sheltering in a donga ( gully ) about 500 yards behind the guns and the intervening space was swept with shell and rifle fire . Captain Congreve , with two other officers ( The Hon . Frederick Hugh Sherston Roberts and Harry Norton Schofield ) , and Corporal George Edward Nurse retrieved two of the guns . All four received the VC for this action . ( F . S . H . Roberts was the son in one of the two other father and son pairs of VC winners . ) Then , although wounded himself , seeing one of the officers fall , Congreve went out with Major William Babtie , RAMC , who also received the VC for this action , and brought in the wounded man . His citation read : The Somme : Action at Delville Wood . Congreve commanded 6th Division from May 1915 and then XIII Corps from November 1915 . As commander of XIII Corps , Lt - Gen Congreve led the battles for Longueval and Delville Wood between 14 July and 3 September 1916 . The rapid advance of his Corps in the southern sector of the Somme offensive had brought about a situation where the allied front was set at a right angle – the left sector facing north and the right , facing east from Delville Wood . This meant that an advance on a wide front would result in the attacking forces diverging from one – another as they advanced . In order to " straighten the line , " General Sir Douglas Haig had decided to exploit the advances which had been made by Congreve in the south by taking and holding the town of Longueval and Delville Wood . Being on fairly high ground and providing good spotting opportunities for artillery fire , an occupied Longueval would protect the right flank and allow the Allies to advance in the north and align their left with that of Congreve ' s XIII Corps on the right . XIII Corps succeeded in securing Delville Wood , but it was one of the bloodiest confrontations of the Somme , with both sides incurring large casualties . During World War I , Congreve lost a hand in action . Later life . Congreve continued his war service becoming General Officer Commanding VII Corps in 1918 . Later Congreve rose to the rank of general and was knighted . He was General Officer Commanding the Egyptian Expeditionary Force between 1919 and 1922 and then Commander - in - Chief Southern Command between 1923 and 1924 . From 1924 to 1927 , he served as the governor of Malta , where he died . At his request , he was buried at sea in the channel between the coast and Filfla Island ; there is a small monument to him on the coast between Hamrija Tower and the prehistoric site of Mnajdra ; the channel between Malta and Filfla is unofficially known as Congreve Channel ( the official name is ' Il - Fliegu ta ' Filfla ' ) . The presence of Congreve ' s monument in a place of prehistoric worship is considered a colonial sacrilege by many Maltese people , and there have been repeated calls for its removal . There is also a stone bearing his name above the gate to the " Scouts " HQ in Floriana , Valletta . Congreve was the father of Major William La Touche Congreve , VC - they are one of only three father and son pairs to win a VC . His younger son Geoffrey Cecil Congreve was created a baronet , of Congreve in the County of Stafford , in July 1927 ( see Congreve baronets ) . Victoria Cross . Congreve ' s Victoria Cross is on display at the Royal Green Jackets Museum " ( Winchester , England ) " . External links .