请输入您要查询的百科知识:

 

词条 Gordon Charles Steele
释义

  1. Early life

  2. Career

  3. Personal

  4. See also

  5. References

  6. External links

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2012}}{{Infobox military person
|name= Gordon Charles Steele
|birth_date = {{birth date |df=yes|1891|11|1}}
|death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1981|01|04|1891|11|1}}
|birth_place = Exeter, Devon, England
|death_place = Winkleigh, Devon, England
|placeofburial = All Saint's New Cemetery, Winkleigh
|image=
|caption=
|nickname=
|allegiance= {{UK}}
|serviceyears=
|rank=Captain
|branch= {{navy|United Kingdom}}
|commands=
|unit=
|battles=World War I
Russian Civil War
World War II
|awards= Victoria Cross
|laterwork=
}}

Captain Gordon Charles Steele VC (1 November 1891 – 4 January 1981) was an English Naval officer and a 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.

Early life

On 1 November 1891, Steele was born in Exeter, Devon, England.[1]

Career

Steele was 27 years old, and a lieutenant in the Royal Navy serving with the North Russia Relief Force when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 18 August 1919 at Kronstadt, Russia, Lieutenant Steele was second-in-command of Coastal Motor Boat 88. Steele’s boat became illuminated by an enemy searchlight. Very heavy machine gun fire followed immediately, the Captain being killed and the boat thrown off course. A British aircraft saw the problem, dived on the searchlight and put it out with gunfire. Lieutenant Steele took the wheel and steadied the boat, lifting the dead officer away from the steering and firing position, and successfully torpedoed the battleship Andrei Pervozvanny at 100 yards range. He then manoeuvred the CMB in a very confined space to get a clear shot at the other battleship Petropavlovsk before making for the safety of the bay.[2]

He later achieved the rank of Captain and served in the Royal Navy during World War II. In 1940 he met, by chance, and for the first time, the pilot of the aircraft (by now Group Captain Fletcher, RAF) who had attacked the searchlight.

He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1958 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the BBC Television Theatre.[3]

Personal

Steele's wife was May Mariette Steele. On 4 January 1981, Steele died in Winkleigh, Devon county, England. He was 89. On Oct. 28, 1982, Steele's wife died Winkleigh, Devon county, England. Both Steele and his wife are buried at All Saint's New Cemetery in Winkleigh.[4]

See also

  • Claude Congreve Dobson - won VC in same action
  • Augustus Agar - won VC in same campaign in similar action

References

1. ^vconline.org.uk
2. ^{{London Gazette|issue= 31613|date=21 October 1919|page=12979|supp=y}}
3. ^Gordon Steele's appearance on This Is Your Life
4. ^Thurrock Local History Society
  • Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
  • The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
  • Gallant Gentlemen (Keble Chatterton)

External links

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20041125092218/http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/stewart/devonshi.htm Location of grave and VC medal] (Devonshire)
  • {{Find a Grave|8111440}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steele, Gordon Charles}}

10 : British recipients of the Victoria Cross|Royal Navy personnel of the Russian Civil War|Royal Navy officers of World War I|Royal Navy officers of World War II|1892 births|1981 deaths|Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War|Royal Navy recipients of the Victoria Cross|People from Exeter|People from Winkleigh

随便看

 

开放百科全书收录14589846条英语、德语、日语等多语种百科知识,基本涵盖了大多数领域的百科知识,是一部内容自由、开放的电子版国际百科全书。

 

Copyright © 2023 OENC.NET All Rights Reserved
京ICP备2021023879号 更新时间:2024/9/30 3:24:14