Maurice James Dease VC was an Irish 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.
14 Facts About Maurice Dease
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Maurice Dease was one of the first British officer battle casualties of the war and the first officer to posthumously receive the Victoria Cross.
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Maurice Dease was educated at Stonyhurst College and the Army Department of Wimbledon College before attending the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.
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Maurice Dease was 24 years old, and a lieutenant in the 4th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, commanded at the time by Lieutenant Colonel Norman McMahon, and was awarded the VC for his actions on 23 August 1914, at Mons, Belgium.
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Maurice Dease was awarded the first Victoria Cross in the Great War and he received it on the first day of the first significant British encounter in that war.
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When Lieutenant Maurice Dease had been mortally wounded, Private Sidney Godley offered to defend the Railway Bridge while the rest of the section retreated and was awarded the VC.
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Maurice Dease was badly wounded on these journeys, but insisted on remaining at duty as long as one of his crew could fire.
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Maurice Dease cleared the emplacement under heavy fire and brought the gun into action.
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Maurice Dease is buried at St Symphorien Military Cemetery, 2 kilometres east of Mons, in Belgium.
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Maurice Dease is remembered with a plaque under the Nimy Railway Bridge, Mons and in Westminster Cathedral.
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Maurice Dease's name is commemorated on the Wayside Cross at the Catholic priory in Woodchester, near Stroud, Gloucestershire, where his aunt, Lady Mostyn, was a parishioner.
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Maurice Dease is further commemorated on a cross at Exton, Rutland and on a plaque installed in St Martin's Church, Culmullen, County Meath, Ireland.
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Victoria Cross holders are being honoured with commemorative paving stones; Maurice Dease's was the first to be unveiled on 23 August 2014 at Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin.
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Maurice Dease was portrayed in the BBC Three series Our World War by Dominic Thorburn.