THE VICTORIA CROSS AND CAMPAIGN MEDALS AWARDED TO SERGEANT THOMAS STEELE, SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS, HAVE BEEN ACQUIRED BY LORD ASHCROFT. |
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10 November 2010 |
The Victoria Cross and campaign medals awarded to Sergeant Thomas Steele, 1st Bn, The Seaforth Highlanders, have been acquired by the Michael Ashcroft Trust, the holding institution for Lord Ashcroft's VC Collection.
For the award of the Victoria Cross. [ London Gazette, 8 June 1917 ], Shumran Bend, Sanna-y-Yat, Mesopotamia ( Iraq ), 22 February 1917, Sergeant Thomas Steele, 1st Bn, Seaforth Highlanders.
For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty ( near Sannaiyat, Mesopotamia ).
Thomas Steele was invested with his Victoria Cross by King George V at Buckingham Palace on the 10th April 1919. Private Joseph Winder was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal ( DCM ) and Medaille Militaire and was later promoted company sergeant major. He was killed in action on the 2nd November 1918 in France a few days before the Armistice.
Thomas Steele died at his home in Springfield, Oldham, Lancashire, aged 87, on the 11th July 1978 and was cremated at the Hollingwood Crematorium, Oldham. His ashes were interred in the family grave at St Anne's Churchyard, Lydgate. |
Iain Stewart, 10 November 2010