Thomas Tannatt Pryce

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Thomas Tannatt Pryce VC MC & Bar (17 January 1886 – 13 April 1918) 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. He was educated at Shrewsbury School.

He was a married man, originally from Montgomeryshire, 32 years old, and an acting captain in the 4th Battalion, Grenadier Guards, British Army, (S.R.) during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 11 April 1918 at Vieux Berquin, France, Captain Pryce led two platoons in a successful attack on a village. Early next day he was occupying a position with some 40 men, the rest having become casualties. He beat off four attacks during the day, but by evening the enemy were within 60 yards of his trench. A bayonet charge led by Captain Pryce drove them back some 100 yards, but he had only 17 men left with no ammunition when yet another attack came. He again led a bayonet charge and was last seen engaged in a fierce hand-to-hand struggle against overwhelming odds.

His Victoria Cross is displayed at The Guards Regimental Headquarters (Grenadier Guards RHQ) (London, England).

Pryce's name is recorded on the Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing in Berks Cemetery Extension near Ploegsteert in Hainaut, Belgium.

[edit] References

• Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
• The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
• VCs of the First World War - Spring Offensive 1918 (Gerald Gliddon, 1997)