William Mariner (VC)

William Mariner VC (29 May 1882- 1 July 1916) 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.

Mariner, the son of Mrs A. Wignall was 32 years old, and a private in the 2nd Battalion, The King's Royal Rifle Corps, British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 22 May 1915 near Cambrin, France, during a violent thunder storm, Private Mariner left his trench and crept out through German wire entanglements until he reached the emplacement of an enemy gun which had been hindering progress. He climbed on top of a German parapet and threw a bomb under the roof of the emplacement and after 15 minutes he threw another bomb. He then waited while the guns opened fire on the wire entanglements behind him and eventually he was able to return to his own trench. He had been out alone for one and a half hours.

He was killed in action, France, on 1 July 1916.

References

*Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
*The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
*VCs of the First World War - The Western Front 1915 (Peter F. Batchelor & Christopher Matson, 1999)

External links

* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/11/13/nveterans113.xml The Convict VC]