Richard George Masters VC (30 March 1877 - 4 April 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.

Details

He was 41 years old, and a Private in the Royal Army Service Corps, British Army, attd. 141st Field Ambulance during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 9 April 1918 near Bethune, France, owing to an enemy attack, communications were cut off and the wounded could not be evacuated. The road was reported impassable but private Masters volunteered to try to get through and after great difficulty succeeded, although he had to clear the road of all sorts of debris. He made journey after journey throughout the afternoon over a road consistently shelled and swept by machine-gun fire and once he was bombed by an aeroplane. The greater number of wounded were evacuated by him as his was the only car which got through.

The Territorial Army and Volunteer Reserve (TAVR) Centre at Strand Road, Bootle, Liverpool is named after Private Masters, VC. It was built in 1980 to house what is now 238 SQN 156 TPT RLC(V) - 238 Squadron of 156 Transport Regiment Royal Logistics Corps (Volunteers). The RLC, formerly the Royal Corps of Transport/RCT, includes the Field Ambulance units which trace their history back through the Royal Army Service Corps, the Army Service Corps and beyond.

The medal

His Victoria Cross is displayed at The Royal Logistic Corps Museum (Camberley, Surrey, England).

References

• Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
• The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
• VCs of the First World War - Spring Offensive 1918 (Gerald Gliddon, 1997)

External links

• Location of grave and VC medal (grave in Lancashire )
• Royal Logistic Corps Museum (medal in Camberley)

• 238 squadron (Bootle) 156 TPT RLC(V)
• 156 (North West) Transport Regiment Royal Logistic Corps (Volunteers)

• Royal Logistics Corps British Army
• Royal Corps of Transport British Army

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