John Fitzhardinge Paul Butler
recipient of the Victoria Cross
John Fitzhardinge Paul Butler (20 December 1888 – 5 September 1916) was a British Army officer during the First World War and an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Background
Butler was born in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, on 20 December 1888 to Lieutenant Colonel Francis John Paul Butler and the Hon. Elspeth Butler (née Gifford), daughter of Robert Gifford, 2nd Baron Gifford. Butler was thus the nephew of fellow Victoria Cross recipient Edric Gifford, 3rd Baron Gifford.
He was married, to Alice Amelia of Portfield, Chichester.
Military career
In February 1907, Butler was commissioned into the King's Royal Rifle Corps. In October 1913 he was seconded for service under the Colonial Office, and attached to the Gold Coast Regiment.
Butler was a 25 year old lieutenant in The King's Royal Rifle Corps, attached to Pioneer Company, Gold Coast Regiment, West African Frontier Force, when he was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions on 17 November 1914 in the Cameroons, Nigeria.
Citation
For most conspicuous bravery in the Cameroons, West Africa. On 17th November, 1914, with a party of 13 men, he went into the thick bush and at once attacked the enemy, in strength about 100, including several Europeans, defeated them, and captured their machine gun and many loads of ammunition.
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This entry incorporates text from “John Fitzhardinge Paul Butler” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.