'In Memoriam' leaflet for Lieutenant Frank Alexander de Pass, 34th Prince Albert Victor's Own Poona Horse, describing how he won his posthumous VC, 1914
Frank de Pass (1887-1914) was commissioned into the Royal Horse Artillery in 1906 and transferred to the 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 Victoria Cross (VC) and also the first Indian Army officer to win the award in World War One (1914-1918).
Lieutenant de Pass was awarded the VC on 18 February 1915, for an action near Festubert, on 24 November 1914, where he cleared an enemy trench and rescued, under heavy fire, a wounded man. He was killed on the 25 November 1914 in a second attempt to capture the trench which had been re-occupied by German troops.
NAM Accession Number
NAM. 1995-06-60-1
Copyright/Ownership
National Army Museum, London
Location
National Army Museum, Study Collection
Object URL
https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1995-06-60-1
Browse related themes