14 Facts About Robert Gee

Robert Gee was sent to the workhouse in Leicester, then to the Countesthorpe Cottage Homes for orphaned children.

Quartermaster-Serjeant Robert Gee was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 21 May 1915.

Robert Gee encouraged his men during the attack by fearlessly exposing himself and cheering them on.

Robert Gee was 41 years old, and a temporary captain in the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers, British Army during the First World War when he was awarded 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, for his actions on 30 November 1917 at Masnieres and Les Rues Vertes, France, during a German counter attack in the Battle of Cambrai :.

Robert Gee cleared the locality and established a defensive flank, then finding an enemy machine-gun still in action, with a revolver in each hand he went forward and captured the gun, killing eight of the crew.

Robert Gee was wounded, but would not have his wound dressed until the defence was organised.

Robert Gee later transferred to the Royal West Kent Regiment.

Robert Gee first stood for Parliament as a National Democratic Party candidate in the 1918 General Election at Consett, where he finished second.

Robert Gee then stood for Parliament as a Conservative in the 1921 Woolwich East by-election against Ramsay MacDonald.

Robert Gee won the seat which he held until the next general election the following year, when he lost to the Labour Party candidate.

Robert Gee stood unsuccessfully in the 1923 Newcastle-upon-Tyne East by-election and in Bishop Auckland in the 1923 United Kingdom general election.

Robert Gee was elected MP for Bosworth at the 1924 general election.

Robert Gee became disillusioned with parliamentary life however, and he was reported to have been absent from his political duties for over a year at the time of his resignation in 1927, having emigrated to the backwoods of Western Australia with no intention of returning.

Robert Gee's VC is displayed at the Fusilier Museum in the Tower of London, England.