Frank de Pass

Frank Alexander de Pass VC (26 April 1887 – 25 November 1914) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was the first Jew to receive the VC.[1][2]

The Grave of LT A De Pass at Bethune CWGC Cemetery France

Frank de Pass
Birth nameFrank Alexander de Pass
Born26 April 1887
Kensington, Middlesex, England
Died25 November 1914 (aged 27)
Festubert, France
Buried
Bethune Town Cemetery
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Indian Army
Years of service1906–1914 
RankLieutenant
UnitRoyal Horse Artillery
34th Prince Albert Victor's Own Poona Horse
Battles/warsWorld War I
AwardsVictoria Cross

De Pass was born in Kensington to London merchant Sir Eliot de Pass and Beatrice de Mercado.[3] The family's original surname, Shalom, was translated to the Spanish word for peace and became Paz before being anglicised to Pass when the family first settled in England in the 1660s.[4][1]

He attended Rugby School.[5] By the age of 27, he had attained the rank of Lieutenant in the 34th Prince Albert Victor's Own Poona Horse.

On 24 November 1914, de Pass entered a German sap near Festubert, France, and destroyed a traverse in the face of the enemy's bombs. He also rescued, under heavy fire, a wounded man who was lying exposed to enemy bullets in the open. The next day, de Pass was killed in a second attempt to capture the sap, which the enemy had re-occupied. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross on 18 February 1915.[6] His Victoria Cross is displayed at the National Army Museum in Chelsea, London.[7]

His sister, Marjorie, married Sir Henry Kitson and had two sons, including Sir Frank Kitson.[8]

In 2014, on the centennial of his death, de Pass was honoured with a memorial paving stone laid outside the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall, London.[2] The ceremony was attended by his nephew, Col. Jonny Kitson, his great nephew Thomas Kitson and Sgt. Johnson Beharry VC, the first living recipient of the Victoria Cross in more than three decades.[1]

See also

References

  1. "First World War hero honoured at Whitehall". gov.uk. 25 November 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  2. Culbertson, Alix (26 November 2014). "First Jewish Victoria Cross recipient honoured 100 years after being shot dead". Get West London. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  3. "Obituary: Sir Eliot De Pass – The West India Committee". The Times. 12 July 1937. p. 14.
  4. Field, Peter Old (2014). Victoria Crosses on the Western Front August 1914 – April 1915: Mons to Hill 60. Pen and Sword. p. 184. ISBN 9781783030439.
  5. De Pass, Frank Alexander, Commonwealth War Graves Commission
  6. "No. 29074". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 February 1916. p. 1700.
  7. National Army Museum
  8. Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (107 ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 2208. ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.

Publications

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