THE VICTORIA CROSS AND CAMPAIGN MEDALS AWARDED TO MAJOR MONTAGUE MOORE, ROYAL HAMPSHIRE REGIMENT, HAVE BEEN ACQUIRED BY THE LORD ASHCROFT VC COLLECTION. |
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2011 |
The Victoria Cross, campaign medals and commemorative medals awarded to Major Montague Moore, 15th Bn, The Hampshire Regiment, have been acquired by the Michael Ashcroft Trust the holding institution of the Lord Ashcroft VC Collection. Montague Moore's VC group had been on a long loan to the Royal Hampshire Regiment Museum in Winchester and will now go on display in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery in the Imperial War Museum, London. |
For the award of the Victoria Cross [ London Gazette, 8 November 1917 ], East of Ypres, Belgium, 20 August 1917, Second Lieutenant Montague Shadworth Seymour Moore, 15th Bn, Hampshire Regiment.
For most conspicuous bravery in operations ( near Tower Hamlets, East of Ypres, Belgium ) necessitating a fresh attack on a final objective which had not been captured. 2nd Lieutenant Moore at once volunteered for this duty and dashed forward at the head of some 70 men.
Montague Moore was invested with his Victoria Cross by King George V at Buckingham Palace on the 21st November 1917.
Following the end of the First World War Montague Moore's fighting was not over. In May 1919 he was serving with the 2nd Bn, Hampshire Regiment, part of the 238th Special Brigade of the North Russia Relief Force, despatched to Archangel ostensibly to assist the withdrawal of Allied troops threatened by Bolsheviks. The Force included eight holders of the Victoria Cross.
In March 1921 Montague Moore was posted to the 2nd Bn, King's African Rifles, in Tanganyka Territory, formerly German East Africa. The posting proved a turning-point in his life. He retired from the Army in 1926 and joined the Tanganyika game department eventually becoming the country's chief game warden. Moore died on 12th September 1966 at Kugenzo, Kenya, and his ashes scattered in the Nairobi National Park. |
Iain Stewart, 20 February 2012