George Prowse
Chief Petty Officer George Henry Prowse VC, DCM was a British recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He served with the Royal Naval Division during the Gallipoli Campaign and in France on the Western Front where he was killed in action before the award of either of his decorations was announced.
According to his service record, which has been placed online by The National Archives, Prowse was born onAugust 1896, however the Commonwealth War Graves Commission gives his age at death as 32, which would place his birth in 1886. Recent research in South Wales has unearthed a birth certificate that shows he was actually born onAugust 1886 in Brynsion Terrace, Gilfach Goch, Llantrisant and a Blue Plaque was placed on the house by the local council, Rhondda Cynon Taff onOctober 2006. He enlisted in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve for the Royal Naval Division, onFebruary 1915. The details recorded in his service record show he was living in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales with his wife Sarah he had been working as a collier, wasfeet tall, had grey eyes, brown hair and a fair complexion.At some time he relocated to Camerton in Somerset,probably to work in the coal mines there. In the churchyard at Camerton there is a war memorial with his name shown.
Source: Wikipedia