Great Britain's highest award; given for most conspicuous bravery, a daring or preeminent act of valour, self-sacrifice or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy
Brigadier-General Bradford Addresses His Troops Fresh from England
"Our Battalion is universally respected and envied, so you see a great responsibility rests with you. You have got to help us maintain, and even increase, our present efficiency.
"You must always do the best work of which you are capable, try hard and conscientiously to keep yourselves fit, happy and efficient. Make yourselves masters of your own particular job as soldiers; do your duty willingly and thoroughly.
"The Call of Duty is a sacred one. We must do our duty, not merely to gain praise and advancement thereby, but because it is our duty, our duty to ourselves, our comrades, our Battalion, our families, our country, our King, and to the God who made us, and will help us in our work.
"You will find that you will be happy in this Battalion; you will find some splendid friends; your officers and non-commissioned officers are men who realise that they are made of the same sort of clay as you, and are in sympathy with your difficulties, and will do all they can to look after your interests. They know their job and will lead you well at all times.
"We are all working for the same purpose, the complete defeat of the enemy, and we must work together, each for each, and all for each.
"Upon behalf of the gallant lads whom I have had the honour to command, I welcome you to our midst. You are now of us, and will work with us and for us.
"My friends, I am going to arrange for the band to play one verse of the hymn 'Abide with me' every evening. I would like all of you then reverently to join in the words. It should mean more to you and me than the singing of a well-known hymn. 'Abide with me' should be no mere catchphrase with us.
"It means that we realise that there is Someone who really abides with us, and who will help us to help ourselves. Someone who is with us in all our sorrows and hardship, and every man in the world has a fair share of that.
"We soldiers should find great comfort in that fact, however much our comrades and those about us may overlook our work, there is Someone who sees and appreciates it. He is with us, I say, just as our friends, Sergeant Caldwell, Corporal Guy, and Private Halley are now serving with Him."
Click here for Roland's Address to his New Troops fresh out from England
Click here to see page with details of Memorials & Plaques in Roland's memory
PIC of the 4 Brothers together
Summary page about all four brothers
List of V Cs awarded at the Battles of the Somme
Mention of Roland Bradford in Brigadier Young's Book on Rommel
Durham Light Infantry Museum Details concerning Roland Bradford
Summary details and short biography of Roland Bradford by Malcolm McGregor
George N. Bradford:- Details from Commonwealth War Graves Commission Records
James B. Bradford:- Details from Commonwealth War Graves Commission Records
Roland B. Bradford:- Details from Commonwealth War Graves Commission Records
Thomas A. Bradford:- Details and photographs from the family
Amy Isabelle Bradford - the younger schoolgirl sister
LINK to Memorial to George Bradford at Blankenberghe Town Cemetery
LINK to Albert McKenzie and the other Zeebrugge V.C.'s
LINK to Mike Chapman's Victoria Cross Reference
LINK to British Light Infantry Regiments' site
LINK to the Durham Light Infantry site
LINK to D. L. I. Museum website
LINK to The War Graves Commission
LINK to Peter van den Heuvel & Marco Hoveling's site with information on location of Roland's grave
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November 11th 2006
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