Lieutenant Maurice James Dease VC
“ The Germans attacked the bridge with greater intensity and Dease was wounded . As he defended his position , Dease was hit three more times , including in the neck”
Lieutenant Maurice James Dease was the first officer to be awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously during World War One. His decoration was for a heroic act of bravery and leadership in August 1914, just days after the outbreak of the war.
Born in Coole, County Westmeath, Ireland, on September 28, 1889, Dease was the only son of Edmund Dease, a Justice of the Peace, and his wife, Katherine (neé Murray). He was educated at Frognal Park School in Hampstead, Stonyhurst College in Lancashire and the Army College, Wimbledon, before attending the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. A Roman Catholic, he took his religious beliefs very seriously both as a schoolboy and in his army career.
Dease was commissioned into the 4th Battalion, the Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment), as a second lieutenant on May 27, 1910. Later that year, he underwent a mountain warfare training course in Wales, then was promoted to a full lieutenant in April 1912. He was serving as an acting adjutant when the regiment was mobilised on August 5, 1914.
