Bernard Warburton-Lee

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Bernard Armitage Warburton Warburton-Lee (September 13, 1895 - April 10, 1940) was a Welsh 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.

1 Details
2 Further information
3 See also
4 References

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He was 44 years old, and a captain in the Royal Navy during the Second World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 10 April 1940 in Ofotfjord, Narvik, Norway, in the First Battle of Narvik Captain Warburton-Lee of HMS Hardy led a flotilla of five destroyers in a surprise attack on German destroyers and merchant ships in a blinding snowstorm. This was successful, and was almost immediately followed by an engagement with five more German destroyers, during which Captain Warburton-Lee was mortally wounded by a shell which hit Hardy's bridge. In 1942 he was awarded the Norwegian War Cross.

[edit] Further information

First VC to be gazetted in the Second World War.

Captain Bernard Armitage Warburton Lee, RN, VC, is the famous English WW II hero of the First Battle of Narvik, Norway. Warburton Lee at that time commanded the British Destroyer Flotilla consisting of HMS's Hardy, Havock, Hostile, Hotspur and Hunter who engaged the German shore batteries and warships in a fierce duel to the death which cost the captain his life. For his exploits in this engagement he was awarded Britain's highest decoration for valor in combat, the Victoria Cross posthumously. During WW II only 23 Victory Crosses were awarded to members of the Royal Navy and Royal Navy Reserve, and of those only approximately 11 survived. How his sextant / quintant found its way to these shores is unknown.

Bernard Warburton Lee's citation reads as follows:

"For gallantry, enterprise and daring in command of the force engaged in the First Battle of Narvik, on 10th April, 1940. On being ordered to carry out an attack on Narvik, Captain Warburton Lee learned that the enemy was holding the place in much greater force than had been thought. He signalled to the Admiralty that six German destroyers and one submarine were there, that the channel might be mined, and that he intended to attack at dawn. The Admiralty replied that he alone could judge whether to attack, and that whatever decision he made would have full support. Captain Warburton led his flotilla of five destroyers up the fjord in heavy snow-storms, arriving off Narvik just after daybreak. He took the enemy completely by surprise and made three successful attacks on warships and merchantmen in the harbour. As the flotilla withdrew, five enemy destroyers of superior gunpower were encountered and engaged. The captain was mortally wounded by a shell which hit the bridge of H.M.S. Hardy. His last signal was "Continue to engage the enemy".

[edit] See also

City and Naval Station of Ferrol in Northwestern Spain 1936 [1] - In sight of the outbreak of a civil war, and because there was fear of social unrest in the naval station, the Foreign Office in London, organized a ship to repatriate all the remaining British citizens and on July 22, 1936. The HMS Witch (D89), captained by B.A. Warburton-Lee, departed from Ferrol back to Britain.