Edward Unwin Commodore Edward Unwin ( 20 April 1864 – 19 April 1950 ) 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 . Unwin joined the merchant navy at the age of 16 and spent 15 years serving on clippers with P & O . He trained at HMS " Conway " and joined the Royal Navy on 16 October 1895 , serving during the South African War . In November 1901 he was transferred to " the Vivid " to serve at " HMS Forth " . He was promoted to lieutenant commander in 1903 and retired in 1909 with the rank of Commander . He was recalled to the service on 29 July 1914 , shortly before the outbreak of the First World War . Initially he served aboard HMS " Iron Duke " on the staff of Admiral John Jellicoe but in February 1915 he took command of the torpedo gunboat HMS " Hussar " which had operated as a despatch vessel for the Commander in Chief , Mediterranean and was now a minesweeper . In 1915 , when planning began for the amphibious landing on the Gallipoli peninsula , Unwin proposed beaching the 4 , 000 ton collier SS " River Clyde " on the narrow beach beneath Sedd el Bahr at Cape Helles , known as V Beach , thereby allowing 2 , 000 troops to be landed together . At the age of 51 , Unwin was promoted to acting Captain and given command of the " River Clyde " for the operation . The " River Clyde " beached at 06 : 22 on 25 April 1915 , and the plan called for a steam hopper to form a bridge from the ship to the shore . However , the Dardanelles current swept the hopper away so Unwin , accompanied by Able Seaman William Charles Williams , who had served under him on the " Hussar " and had been ordered to stay by his side , dove overboard and manhandled two lighters into position , lashing them together to form the bridge . All the while Unwin was under fire from the Turkish defenders . When Williams was mortally wounded , Unwin went to his aid and the lighter he was holding was swept away . Unwin collapsed from cold and exhaustion , his place being taken by other men . After an hour of rest , he returned to the lighters until he was wounded and collapsed again . Once the attempts to land had ceased , Unwin went out a third time to attempt to recover wounded from the beach ; according to one account he retrieved seven men . In August , when a new landing was to be made by the British IX Corps at Suvla as part of the Battle of Sari Bair , Unwin was given command of the landing boats , known as " Beetles " . He was the first to report on the landing to the corps commander , Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Stopford , and advised against landing further troops inside Suvla Bay due to the darkness and reefs . Unwin was back at Suvla as Naval Transport Officer for the evacuation in December — he was aboard the last boat to leave the beach . When a soldier fell overboard , Unwin dived in to rescue him . Observing this act , General Julian Byng , the new IX Corps commander , remarked to Commodore Roger Keyes : In 1916 Unwin took command of HMS " Amethyst " and in 1917 became Naval Transport Officer , Egypt . He later achieved the rank of commodore . He died on 19 April 1950 and is buried in Grayshott , Surrey . His Victoria Cross has been loaned by his family to the Imperial War Museum , London , where it is on display .