David Auldjo Jamieson
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David Auldjo Jamieson VC, CVO (1 October 1920 - 15 May 2001) was the last recipient of the Victoria Cross in Norfolk, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
A statesmanlike figure widely respected for his many accomplishments in war and peace, David Auldjo Jamieson was born in Westminster, on 1 October 1920, the elder son of Sir Archibald Jamieson KBE MC, chairman of Vickers Armstrong.
He was schooled at Ladycross School, Seaford, East Sussex, and Eton. In his youth he spent time at the family holiday retreat in Norfolk. He was a volunteer in the Territorial Army unit at Dersingham for the 5th Battalion of the Royal Norfolk Regiment, which he joined in May 1939. He transferred to the 7th Battalion and was subsequently commissioned as a Second Lieutenant despite a lack of experience. He was considered too young for overseas service and did not initially go with the Regiment in the British Expeditionaty Force (BEF) when it went to France in 1940 but followed later. When the majority of the battalion was captured in August 1940 during the Fall of France he was at Rouen and was able to return to Britain. The battalion was reformed in 1941 and he was promoted to company commander.
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[edit] VC action
He was 23 years old, and a Captain in the Royal Norfolk Regiment, British Army during the Second World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On the 7 August to 8 August 1944 south of Grimbosq, Normandy, France, Captain Jamieson was in command of a company which established a bridgehead over the River Orne. The enemy made seven counter-attacks on the company's position, but throughout 36 hours of bitter and close fighting Captain Jamiesons company didn't give up.
The attacks included assaults with Tiger and Panther tanks who shot up the tanks with the Norfolk's. Jamieson at one point mounted a British tank to talk to the commander under enemy fire. He dismissed it as anything heroic saying that he had to as the telephone didn't work - tanks were equipped with an external handset so that the commander could talk to an infantry commander without opening the hatch. The image of him riding a Churchill tank while enemy tanks attacked was immortalised in a painting.
The citation for Captain David Jamieson in the London Gazette of 26 October 1944 ends "Throughout the thirty six hours of bitter and close fighting and in spite of the pain of his wounds, Captain Jamieson showed superb qualities of leadership and great personal bravery. There were times when the position appeared hopeless, but on each occasion it was restored by his coolness and determination. He personally was largely responsible for the holding of this important bridgehead over the River Orne and for the repulse of seven German counter-attacks with great loss to the enemy."
He married Nancy Elwes 1948. She died in a car accident in 1963. He married again to Joanna Windsor-Clive in 1969. He died on 5 May 2001 in Burnham Market, Norfolk and was buried in the churchyard in Burnham Norton. He was survived by his widow, his son Andrew Jamieson, and two daughters of his first marriage, three grandchildren and by a stepson and stepdaughter.
[edit] The medal
David Jamieson's Victoria Cross is displayed in the Royal Norfolk Regimental Museum in the Shirehall Norwich, Norfolk.
[edit] Other medals
- 1939-45 Star
- Italy Star
- Defence Medal - (1939-45)
- War Medal - (1939-45)
- Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal 1953
- Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal 1977
[edit] References
- British VCs of World War 2 (John Laffin, 1997)
- Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
- The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
- Antoni Chmielowski, Pyers Symon, John Fullarton, Edwin King, Julian Vallis
