A COMMEMORATIVE paving stone has been unveiled in Abercromby Square, Liverpool, to honour Captain Noel Godfrey Chavasse, VC & Bar, MC. (See also Britain at War, Issue 125, September 2017) The ceremony on Tuesday, 29 August 2017, was followed by a re-creation of the original Memorial Service held in Liverpool Parish Church, a century to the day after it took place.
Although born in Oxford, Chavasse moved to Liverpool in 1900 when his father was appointed the Bishop there. He studied at Liverpool College before gaining a First-Class Honours degree in philosophy from Oxford. As a young man, Chavasse ran for Great Britain alongside his identical twin brother in the 1908 Olympics. He later studied medicine, qualifying as an Orthopaedic surgeon.
During his time at Oxford, Chavasse joined the University Officer Training Corps. He enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1913, being attached to the 10th (Scottish) Battalion, King’s (Liverpool) Regiment. In November 1914, the battalion was posted to France and Noel accompanied them as their Medical Officer. He was one of the first doctors to use a new anti-tetanus serum and when the Germans began using chlorine gas for the first time he arranged for hi…
