Charles Richard Sharpe

Charles Richard Sharpe VC (2 April 1889 – 18 February 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.

Charles Richard Sharpe

VC
Born2 April 1889
Pickworth, Lincolnshire
Died18 February 1963(1963-02-18) (aged 73)
Workington, Cumbria
Buried
Newport Cemetery, Lincoln
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service1905 - 1928
RankCompany Sergeant Major
UnitRoyal Lincolnshire Regiment
Battles/warsWorld War I
Awards Victoria Cross

Charles Sharpe was a farmer's boy from Pickworth,[1] near Bourne, Lincolnshire, who ran away from home to join the army at the age of sixteen. He had served with the 2nd battalion in the Bermuda Garrison before the war, arriving on the Western Front with that battalion 6 November 1914.

He was an Acting Corporal in the 2nd Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment,[2] British Army and 26 years old when the following deed took place during the Battle of Aubers Ridge in First World War for which he was awarded the VC.

On 9 May 1915 at Rouges Bancs, France, Corporal Sharpe was in charge of a blocking party sent forward to take a portion of the German trench. He was the first to reach the enemy's position and using bombs with great effect he himself cleared them out of a trench 50 yards (46 m) long. By this time all his party had fallen and he was then joined by four other men with whom he attacked the enemy with bombs and captured a further trench 250 yards (230 m) long.[3]

He later achieved the rank of Company Sergeant Major. He left the army in 1928.

On return to civilian life, he worked at a number of jobs, notably as a physical training instructor to boys at the Hereward Camp approved school at Bourne. In World War II a number of bombs were dropped on the approved school, a row of wooden huts adjacent to Bourne Woods that may have been mistaken for a military camp; Sharpe was injured.

The Medal

His medal is held by South Kesteven District Council, Grantham.

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References
  1. "Pickworth Village". Archived from the original on 8 April 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  2. "The Lincolnshire Regiment". Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  3. "No. 29210". The London Gazette. 29 June 1915. p. 6270.
  • 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)
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