Brigadier-General
John Vaughn Campbell VC

ONE of Oswestry’s most famous recipients of the highest military honour for bravery was John Vaughan Campbell.
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As Major and Brevet Lieutenant Colonel of the Third Battalion Coldstream Guards, Mr Campbell, of Broom Hall, was honoured with a Victoria Cross in recognition for “most conspicuous bravery and able leading in an attack”.

His achievements, of which the Victoria Cross was just one of many are recorded locally in Oswestry Museum

The museum proudly displays how much he deserved the honour: “His personal gallantry and initiative at a very critical moment turned the fortunes of the day and enabled the division to press on and capture objectives of the highest tactical importance.”​His valour surfaced when he took command after the first waves of his battalion were decimated.
The display reads: “He rallied his men with the utmost gallantry and led them against enemy machine guns, capturing the guns and killing the personnel.
“Later in the day ... he again rallied the survivors of this battalion, and at a critical moment led them through a very hostile barrage against his objective.
“He was one of the first to enter the enemy trench.”

The picture below Brigadier General J V Campbell addressing troops of the 137th Brigade (46th Division) from the Riqueval Bridge over the St Quentin Canal

​click on the link below for further information
www.victoriacrossonline.co.uk/john-v-campbell-vc/4586150630