{{Short description|British Army officer during World War 1}} {{EngvarB|date=November 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}} {{Infobox military person | name = Francis Victor Wallington | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1891|10|16}} | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1971|2|15|1891|10|16}} | birth_place = | death_place = | burial_place = | nickname = | allegiance = United Kingdom | branch = British Army | service_years = 1906–1923<br/>1939 | rank = Captain | service_number = | unit = Royal Field Artillery | commands = | battles = First World War | awards = Military Cross & Three Bars<br/>Mentioned in Despatches | relations = | other_work = }} '''Francis Victor Wallington''' MC & Three Bars (16 October 1891 – 15 February 1971) was a decorated British Army officer. He was the first of four soldiers to be awarded the Military Cross four times, all in the First World War.<ref name="CCC - Humphrey Arthur GILKES">{{cite web|title=Humphrey Arthur GILKES|url=http://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/cathedral/memorials/WW2/humphrey-gilkes|publisher=Christ Church, Oxford|accessdate=4 June 2014|date=10 December 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005000000/http://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/cathedral/memorials/WW2/humphrey-gilkes|archivedate=5 October 2017}}</ref><ref name="For conspicuous gallantry">{{cite book|last1=Addington|first1=Scott|title=For conspicuous gallantry: winners of the Military Cross and bar during the Great War|date=2006|publisher=Matador|location=Leicester|isbn=9781905237432}}</ref>

==Military career== Wallington was born in Woolwich. He joined the Royal Horse Artillery in 1906. He reached the rank of bombardier while serving with the 7th Brigade, RHA.<ref name="For conspicuous gallantry" />

Early in the First World War, Wallington served as a soldier in the Royal Artillery, British Army, and reached the rank of serjeant.<ref name="LG 30 June 1916" /> On 15 August 1914, he departed for France with the British Expeditionary Force.<ref name="For conspicuous gallantry" /> On 30 May 1916, he was commissioned into the Royal Artillery as a second lieutenant "for service in the field".<ref name="LG 30 June 1916">{{London Gazette |issue=29650 |date=30 June 1916 |page=6585 |supp=y }}</ref> On 2 October 1917, he was promoted to acting captain while he served as second-in-command of a battery of the Royal Field Artillery.<ref name="LG 23 November 1917">{{London Gazette |issue=30398 |date=23 November 1917 |page=12309 |supp=y }}</ref> On 30 November 1917, he was promoted to lieutenant and retained the acting rank of captain.<ref name="LG 5 April 1918">{{London Gazette |issue=30618 |date=5 April 1918 |page=4285 |supp=y }}</ref> He retired on 2 May 1923 and was granted the rank of captain.<ref name="LG 1 May 1923">{{London Gazette |issue=32819 |date=1 May 1923 |page=3146 }}</ref>

Wallington married Gwendoline Constance Newton (1892–1936) in Lambeth in 1919. They lived in Abingdon, and had two sons Francis and Dennis, and a daughter Maureen.

Wallington later rejoined the British Army. On 7 March 1939, he became a captain and admin officer in the Royal Engineers.<ref name="LG 28 April 1939">{{London Gazette |issue=34620 |date=28 April 1939 |page=2829 }}</ref> With the outbreak of the Second World War, he relinquished his appointment as an admin officer on 2 September 1939.<ref name="LG 13 August 1940">{{London Gazette |issue=34922 |date=13 August 1940 |page=5011 |supp=y }}</ref> He relinquished his commission in the Territorial Army on 2 September 1939.<ref name="LG 30 August 1940">{{London Gazette |issue=34936 |date=30 August 1940 |page=5339 |supp=y }}</ref>

Wallington died in Richmond-upon-Thames in 1971.

==Honours and decorations== For his service in the First World War, Wallington received the following campaign medals; the 1914 Star with clasp, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.<ref name="For conspicuous gallantry" /> On 26 January 1917, he was Mentioned in Despatches.<ref name="For conspicuous gallantry" /> He was awarded the Military Cross four times;<ref name="CCC - Humphrey Arthur GILKES" /> the first on 26 January 1917,<ref name="LG 26 January 1917">{{London Gazette |issue=29921 |date=26 January 1917 |pages=1016–1020 |supp=y }}</ref> the second on 16 August 1917,<ref name="LG 14 August 1917">{{London Gazette |issue=30234 |date=14 August 1917 |pages=8354–8356 |supp=y }}</ref> the third on 25 August 1917,<ref name="LG 24 August 1917">{{London Gazette |issue=30251 |date=24 August 1917 |pages=8801–8804 |supp=y }}</ref> and the fourth on 16 September 1918.<ref name="LG 13 September 1918">{{London Gazette |issue=30901 |date=13 September 1918 |pages=10853–10877 |supp=y }}</ref>

The citation for his first Military Cross read as follows: {{Blockquote |text=For conspicuous gallantry in action. He displayed great courage and skill during wire-cutting operations in preparation for the attack. Later, he brought a trench mortar forward to an exposed position under heavy fire. |source=''London Gazette'' (26 January 1917)<ref name="LG 26 January 1917" />}}

The citation for his second Military Cross read as follows: {{Blockquote |text=For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He showed great coolness and courage under heavy shell fire on many occasions. A fire having broken out in a neighbouring battery's gunpits, he volunteered to extinguish it, which he succeeded in doing, working all the time under heavy shell fire. |source=''London Gazette'' (14 August 1917)<ref name="LG 14 August 1917" />}}

The citation for his third Military Cross read as follows: {{Blockquote |text=For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in rushing to a dug-out in which men had been buried by shell fire and attempting to dig out the men, aided by two other officers. He himself was in a state of collapse, but insisted on helping to carry the wounded to a dressing station under shell fire. |source=''London Gazette'' (24 August 1917)<ref name="LG 24 August 1917" />}}

The citation for his forth and final Military Cross read as follows: {{Blockquote |text= For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty under close enemy machine-gun fire. This officer took forward two teams and succeeded in moving off two guns. One of the teams was shot down, but he succeeded in bringing in the other gun. His gallantry and devotion to duty during recent operations was most marked. |source=''London Gazette'' (13 September 1918)<ref name="LG 13 September 1918" />}}

==See also== * Three other British soldiers to be awarded the MC and three bars: Percy Bentley, Humphrey Arthur Gilkes, Charles Gordon Timms

==References== {{reflist}}

{{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Wallington, Francis}} Category:1891 births Category:1971 deaths Category:British Army personnel of World War I Category:Recipients of the Military Cross Category:Royal Field Artillery officers Category:Royal Artillery officers Category:Royal Engineers officers Category:Royal Horse Artillery soldiers Category:British Army personnel of World War II Category:People from Woolwich Category:Military personnel from the Royal Borough of Greenwich