Ferdinand Maurice Felix West

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Grave/memorial at Holy Trinity Churchyard, Sunningdale, Berkshire, England. Headstone. Photo by Phil Payne - Nov 1999

Air Commodore Ferdinand Maurice Felix West VC CBE MC RAF (19 January 1896 – 8 July 1988) was an English 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.

He was 22 years old, and a captain in No. 8 Squadron, Royal Air Force during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 12 August 1918, the British Army was intending to start a major offensive, but it needed information about the enemy positions. Setting off at dawn, West and his observer, Haslam spotted an enemy concentration through a hole in the mist. Almost immediately they came under fire and he was hit in the leg. His radio transmitter was also smashed. Continuing to identify his location, he remained under attack and only when he was sure of the enemy’s position did he attempt to break off and head for his own lines. The German fighter followed them and continued attacking. Unable to make his airfield West landed behind the Allied lines and insisted on reporting his findings to a squadron officer despite being in excruciating agony. His left leg was so badly damaged that it had to be amputated, and shortly afterwards he was invalided back to Britain, where on 9 November 1918 he learned that he had been awarded the Victoria Cross.

West initially joined the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1914 as a private before being commissioned in the Royal Munster Fusiliers. He then joined the RFC as an observer.

West later achieved the rank of Air Commodore. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Imperial War Museum.

Air Commodore West was interviewed on 27 May 1979 by the art historian Anna Malinovska. The interview is reproduced in Voices in Flight (Pen & Sword Books, 2006)