Regimental History
Victoria Cross Holders of the King's Own Royal Regiment
2nd Lieutenant Joseph Henry Collin VC
Victoria Cross awarded posthumously to 2nd Lieutenant Joseph Henry
Collin, 1st/4th (Territorial Force) Battalion, King’s Own Royal
Lancaster Regiment
Joseph Henry Collin was born on 11th April, 1893 in Jarrow, County
Durham, and later moved to Carlisle, where he was educated at St.
Patrick’s School. At the outbreak of war he was working at Hepworths in
Carlisle, but in 1915 he enlisted in the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders
with whom he served in France, being promoted to Sergeant. Selected for
a commission, he was posted in October 1917 as a 2nd Lieutenant to the
1/4th Battalion King’s Own in France.
During extremely heavy fighting near Givenchy on 9th April, 1918 he was
awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for the following action:-
“For most conspicuous bravery, devotion to duty and self-sacrifice in
action.
After offering a long and gallant resistance against heavy odds in the
Keep held by his platoon, this officer, with only five of his men
remaining, slowly withdrew in the face of superior numbers, contesting
every inch of the ground. The enemy were pressing him hard with bombs
and machine-gun fire from close range. Single-handed 2nd Lieutenant
Collin attacked the machine gun team. After firing his revolver into the
enemy, he seized a Mills grenade and threw it into the hostile team,
putting the gun out of action, killing four of the team and wounding two
others. Observing a second hostile machine gun firing, he took a Lewis
gun, and selecting a high point of vantage on the parapet whence he
could engage the gun, he, unaided, kept the enemy at bay until he fell
mortally wounded.
The heroic self-sacrifice of 2nd Lieutenant Collin was a magnificent
example to all.”
2nd Lieutenant Collin is buried in Vielle-Chapelle New Military
Cemetery, France. Every year Carlisle schools compete for the ‘Collin
Shield’, a trophy for a mile race presented in his memory by his family.
His Victoria Cross was presented to the King's Own Royal Regiment Museum
by his family in 1956.
2nd Lieutenant Joseph Henry Collin VC
Accession Number: KO1017/141 and KO2590/375
The Victoria Cross of 2nd Lieutenant Joseph Henry Collin VC.
Accession Number: KO0838/01
World War One Memorial Plaque for 2nd Lieutenant Joseph Henry Collin VC,
which was acquired by the museum at auction supported by a public appeal
and funding from the MLA/V&A Museum Purchase Grant Fund.
Accession Number: KO2647/01
Original Grave of 2nd Lieutenant Joseph Henry Collin, Vielle Chapelle
British Military Cemetery.
Accession Number: KO2897/01
View of Vielle Chapelle British Military Cemetery
Accession Number: KO2897/02
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