Alfred Toye

Toye was born in Aldershot in 1897, the son of James Robert Toye (1854–1943), an Army Pensioner and Clerk, and Elizabeth Charlotte (née Dodds, 1862–1947). He was educated at the Garrison School in Aldershot[2] before enlisting into the Royal Engineers as a bugler[3] in 1912 before being commissioned into the Middlesex Regiment during World War I. Before joining the Army, Toye was an active Boy Scout, attaining the rank of patrol leader at the 2nd Aldershot Scout Troop. He was the first member of his troop to become a King's Scout.[2]

He was 20 years old, and an acting British Army Captain in the 2nd Battalion, The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own), during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 25 March 1918 at Eterpigny Ridge, France, Captain Toye displayed conspicuous bravery and fine leadership. He three times re-established a post which had been captured by the enemy and, when his three other posts were cut off, he fought his way through the enemy with one officer and six men. He counter-attacked with 70 men and took up a line which he maintained until reinforcements arrived. In two subsequent operations he covered the retirement of his battalion and later re-established a line that had been abandoned before his arrival. He was twice wounded but remained on duty.[4]

Toye's grave in Tiverton Cemetery in 2017

The memorial plaque to Toye in the Municipal Gardens in his native Aldershot

A week after his investiture with the VC at Aldershot he married Flora Robertson (1896-1979) at the Church of St Michael in his native Aldershot. They had two daughters, Joan Flora Toye (1920-2017) and Enid Audrey Toye (1925-2000). From 1925 to 1932 he was chief instructor at the Royal Egyptian Military College and Commandant of War Office Schools of Chemical Warfare 1940- 1942. Toye then joined the teaching staff at the Staff College, Camberley. From 1934 to 1944 he was on active service with the 6th Airborne Division and with General Headquarters, Middle East from 1945 to 1948.[1] He later achieved the rank of Brigadier serving with the 6th Airborne Division in World War II. He retired to Tiverton in Devon where he died in 1955 at the Madame Curie Memorial Foundation at Tidcombe Hall in Tiverton and is buried in Tiverton Cemetery.[2]

On 25 March 2018, on the 100th anniversary of the action in which he won his Victoria Cross during World War I, a memorial to Toye was unveiled in the Municipal Gardens in his native Aldershot.

His Victoria Cross is displayed at the National Army Museum, Chelsea, England.[3]

• Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
• Buzzell, Nora, ed. (1997). The Register of the Victoria Cross. Cheltenham: This England Alma House. ISBN 0-906324-27-0.
• Napier, Gerald (1998). The Sapper VCs: The Story of Valour in the Royal Engineers and Its Associated Corps. The Stationery Office. ISBN 978-0117728356.
• Gliddon, Gerald (2013) [2004]. Spring Offensive 1918. VCs of the First World War. Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-8730-4.

• Royal Engineers Museum Sappers VCs
• Location of grave and VC medal (Devonshire)