Richard George Masters

Infobox Military Person
name=Richard George Masters VC


caption=
born=birth date|1877|03|30
died=death date and age|1963|04|04|1877|03|30
placeofbirth=Birkdale, Lancashire, England
placeofdeath=Southport, Lancashire, England
nickname=
allegiance=British Army
branch=
serviceyears=
rank=
unit=
commands=
battles=World War I
awards=Victoria Cross
Croix de guerre (France)
relations=
laterwork=

Richard George Masters VC (30 March 1877 - 4 April 1963) 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.

Details

He was 41 years old, and a Private in the Royal Army Service Corps, British Army, attd. 141st Field Ambulance during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 9 April 1918 near Bethune, France, owing to an enemy attack, communications were cut off and the wounded could not be evacuated. The road was reported impassable but Private Masters volunteered to try to get through and after great difficulty succeeded, although he had to clear the road of all sorts of debris. He made journey after journey throughout the afternoon over a road consistently shelled and swept by machine-gun fire and once he was bombed by an aeroplane. The greater number of wounded were evacuated by him as his was the only car which got through.

The Territorial Army and Volunteer Reserve (TAVR) Centre at Strand Road, Bootle, Liverpool is named after Private Masters, VC. It was built in 1980 to house what is now 238 SQN 156 TPT RLC(V) - 238 Squadron of 156 Transport Regiment [http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/corps/RLC.htm Royal Logistics Corps] (Volunteers). The RLC, formerly the [http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/corps/RCT.htm Royal Corps of Transport/RCT] , includes the Field Ambulance units which trace their history back through the Royal Army Service Corps, the Army Service Corps and beyond.

The medal

His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Royal Logistic Corps Museum "(Camberley, Surrey, England)".

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)

External links

* [http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/stewart/lancashi.htm Location of grave and VC medal] "(grave in Lancashire )"
* [http://www.army.mod.uk/rlc/rlc_shop_museum/museum_collections.htm Royal Logistic Corps Museum] "(medal in Camberley)"

* [http://www.army.mod.uk/rlc/units/156_tpt_regt/locations/bootle.htm 238 squadron (Bootle) 156 TPT RLC(V)]
* [http://www.army.mod.uk/rlc/units/156_tpt_regt/index.htm 156 (North West) Transport Regiment Royal Logistic Corps (Volunteers)]

* [http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/corps/RLC.htm Royal Logistics Corps] "British Army"
* [http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/corps/RCT.htm Royal Corps of Transport] "British Army"

Persondata
NAME=Masters, Richard George
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Soldier, Victoria Cross recipient
DATE OF BIRTH=1877-03-30
PLACE OF BIRTH=Birkdale, Lancashire, England
DATE OF DEATH=1963-04-04
PLACE OF DEATH=Southport, Lancashire, England