August 4th 2017 was the centenary of the death of Noel Chavasse, one of only 3 men to win the Victoria Cross twice.

As a doctor working with the Liverpool Scottish, he won them for saving soldiers through brave acts of rescue from No Man's Land and then through treating their wounds while under severe fire.

This he did in the Somme, where he won his first VC, and then at Passchendael where he died of his wounds.

In the latter he was injured both in the head and stomach but continued to treat soldiers for two days before succumbing to his wounds.

Earlier in the war Chavasse had also won the Military Cross at Hooge, Belgium and was Mentioned In Dispatches.

His younger brother, Aidan, also died in Ypres in 1917.

Noel Chavasse was also an extremely talented sportsman, running with his twin brother Christopher in the 1908 Olympic 400 metres, an event won by Wyndham Halswelle, another British victim of this dreadful war.

He played rugby at Oxford University and gained his Blue at Lacrosse.

A true hero of the Great War, Noel Chavasse deserves to be remembered today.

Otto Grotschel