VC Heroes
Frank Alexander de Pass VC
Lieutenant Frank Alexander de Pass VC in full dress, c. 1915, and his VC and medal group. NAM 1995-06-59-1
Frank de Pass (1887-1914) was commissioned into the Royal Horse Artillery in 1906 and transferred to the 34th Prince Albert Victor's Own Poona Horse in 1909.
In 1913 he was appointed Orderly Officer to Lieutenant General Sir Percy Lake, Chief of the General Staff in India.
On the outbreak of war in 1914 he embarked with his regiment for France, where he became the first Jewish recipient of the VC and also the first Indian Army officer to win the award in World War One (1914-1918).
De Pass was awarded the VC on 18 February 1915 'For conspicuous bravery near Festubert, on 24 November 1914, in entering a German sap and destroying a traverse in the face of the enemy's bombs; and for subsequently rescuing, under heavy fire, a wounded man who was lying exposed in the open. Lieutenant de Pass lost his life in a second attempt to capture the sap, which had been re-occupied by the enemy'.
Arthur Cumming VC
Arthur Cumming (1896-1971) was born in India and after completing his education was commissioned into the Indian Army in 1916. During World War One Cumming received the Military Cross for bravery in Palestine in 1918, while serving with the 53rd Sikhs.
Major A. E Cumming, 3rd Battalion, 12th Frontier Force Regiment, at Kajuri Kach, Waziristan, 1937. NAM 1993-01-150-1
He was awarded the first of only two VC's presented to British officers of the Indian Army during World War Two (1939-1945) while he was commanding the 2nd Battalion, 12th Frontier Force Regiment in Malaya.
On 3 January 1942, near Kuantan, Malaya, the rear guard position of Lieutenant Colonel Cumming’s unit came under Japanese attack. He therefore led a small party of men in an immediate counter-attack, and despite receiving two bayonet wounds in the stomach, succeeded in restoring the situation sufficiently for most of the Battalion and its vehicles to be withdrawn to safety. He was again wounded twice while driving in a carrier under heavy fire to rescue isolated troops. The citation for his award describes how, 'By his outstanding gallantry, initiative and devotion to duty, he was largely instrumental in the safe withdrawal of the Brigade'.
After the fall of Singapore in February 1942, Cumming led a party of officers through enemy lines in an escape by boat to Sumatra. He was also awarded the OBE for his distinguished services in the Malayan campaign.
