{{Short description|British-Ceylonese recipient of the Victoria Cross}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}} {{Infobox military person |name= Basil Arthur Horsfall |birth_date=4 October 1887 |death_date= 21 March 1918 (aged 30) |birth_place= [[Colombo]], [[Ceylon]] |death_place= Between [[Moyenneville, Pas-de-Calais|Moyenneville]] and [[Ablainzevelle]], [[France]] |image= Basil Arthur Horsfall VC.jpg |caption=Lt. Basil Arthur Horsfall VC |nickname= |allegiance={{UK}} |branch=[[File:Flag of the British Army.svg|23px]] [[British Army]] |service_years= 1917 – 1918 |rank= [[Second Lieutenant]] |commands= |unit=[[Sri Lanka Engineers|Ceylon Engineer Volunteers]]<br/>[[East Lancashire Regiment]] |battles=[[World War I]]{{KIA}} |awards= [[File:UK Victoria Cross ribbon bar.svg|30px]] [[Victoria Cross]] |other_work= }} [[Second Lieutenant]] '''Basil Arthur Horsfall''', [[Victoria Cross|VC]] (4 October 1887 &ndash; 27 March 1918) was a [[United Kingdom|British]]-[[Ceylon]]ese recipient of the [[Victoria Cross]], the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to [[United Kingdom|British]] and [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] forces.

==Early life== Born on 4 October 1887 in [[Colombo]], [[Ceylon]] (now [[Sri Lanka]]), Horsfall was educated at [[S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia]] in [[Ceylon]]<ref>''Well done S. Thomas' Esto perpetua'', By T. D. S. A. Dissanayaka</ref> and at [[Sir William Borlase's Grammar School]],<ref>[http://www.wycombe.gov.uk/news.asp?step=4&contentID=801 Dowager Duchess of Devonshire visits childhood home ]{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> [[Marlow, Buckinghamshire|Marlow]] in [[England]]. He left a position with [[Barclays|Barclay's Bank]], London, to become a rubber planter back in Ceylon, where he also held a civil service position with the Public Works Department and served with the [[Sri Lanka Engineers|Ceylon Engineer Volunteers]]. During [[World War I]], he returned to Britain in July 1916 to enlist in the [[British Army]] and was commissioned as a [[2nd Lieutenant]] in the [[East Lancashire Regiment]] in December. He was wounded at Rouex on 11 May 1917 while serving with the 1st Battalion. After recovering from his wound he joined the 11th Battalion, (the [[Accrington Pals]]), in the autumn of 1917.<ref>Jackson, pp. 167–8.</ref>

==Victoria Cross== On 21 March 1918, between [[Moyenneville, Pas-de-Calais|Moyenneville]] and [[Ablainzevelle]], [[France]], the Germans attacked positions held by Second Lieutenant Horsfall's centre [[platoon]]. After his three forward sections were driven back, he was wounded in the [[Human head|head]] by enemy fire. Ignoring the wound, he immediately reorganised what remained of his troops and counterattacked to regain his original position. Despite the severity of his head wound, he refused to go to the dressing station, as the three other [[Officer (armed forces)|officer]]s in his [[company (military unit)|company]] had been killed. Later, he made another counterattack, but was ordered to withdraw. The last to leave his position, he was shot soon afterwards.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30697|supp=y|page=6058|date=21 May 1918}}</ref><ref>Jackson, pp. 173–4.</ref>

==Distinctions and tributes==

* [[File:UK Victoria Cross ribbon bar.svg|30x30px]] [[Victoria Cross]]. Horsfall's medal is kept in the [[Queen's Lancashire Regiment Museum]] at [[Fulwood Barracks]], Preston, Lancashire. * Horsfall's name is on the [[Arras Memorial]] in France. It is not known where he is buried.<ref>[http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/784223 CWGC entry]</ref> * The school of Ablainzevelle was named after Horsfall in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lavoixdunord.fr/562574/article/2019-04-03/l-ecole-porte-desormais-le-nom-du-lieutenant-basil-arthur-horsfall|title=Ablainzevelle - L'école porte désormais le nom du lieutenant Basil Arthur Horsfall|website=La Voix du Nord|language=fr|access-date=2019-04-06}}</ref> There is a blue plaque commemorating Horsfall on the front wall of Borlase School in Marlow. His name is recorded on the war memorial inside the school chapel and a replica of his VC is placed inside the chapel.

==Notes== {{Reflist}}

==References== * Andrew Jackson, ''Accrington's Pals: The Full Story'', Barnsley, Pen & Sword, 2013, {{ISBN|9781-84884-469-8}}. *{{cite book|year=1997|title=[[The Register of the Victoria Cross]]|editor-last=Buzzell|editor-first=Nora|location=[[Cheltenham]], Gloucestershire|publisher=This England Alma House|isbn=0-906324-27-0}} *{{cite book|first=Gerald|last=Gliddon|year=2013|orig-year=2004|title=Spring Offensive 1918|series=[[VCs of the First World War]]|location=[[Stroud]], [[Gloucestershire]]|publisher=[[The History Press]]|isbn=978-0-7524-8730-4}} *{{cite book|last=Harvey|first=David|author-link=David Charles Harvey|title=[[Monuments to Courage]]|publisher=Naval & Military Press Ltd|year=2000|isbn=1-84342-356-1}}

==External links== * {{Find a Grave|9488151}} * [http://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/2151598.marlow_soldier_honoured_90_years_ago_today/ Article about Basil Arthur Horsfall] {{Duke of Lancaster's Regiment}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Horsfall, Basil Arthur}} [[Category:1887 births]] [[Category:1918 deaths]] [[Category:British colonial army officers]] [[Category:East Lancashire Regiment officers]] [[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]] [[Category:British World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross]] [[Category:British military personnel killed in World War I]] [[Category:Ceylonese military personnel]] [[Category:People educated at Sir William Borlase's Grammar School]] [[Category:Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia]] [[Category:British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross]] [[Category:Sri Lankan people of British descent]]