HENRY FOOTE
“FOOTE WAS ALWAYS AT THE CRUCIAL POINT AT THE RIGHT MOMENT AND OVER A PERIOD OF SEVERAL DAYS GAVE AN EXAMPLE OF OUTSTANDING COURAGE AND LEADERSHIP THAT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN DIFFICULT TO SURPASS”
Victoria Cross Citation
Lieutenant Colonel Henry Robert Bowreman Foote received the Victoria Cross for heroism during the Battle of Gazala in World War II
“I COULD HAVE BITTEN MY TONGUE OFF WHEN I REALISED I HAD SPOKEN IN ENGLISH. HOWEVER, EVERYONE ELSE WAS TOO BUSY TRYING TO GET ONTO THE TRAIN TO TAKE ANY NOTICE OF US”
Lieutenant Colonel Foote describes boarding an Italian train with other escapees
Geysers of sand and shards of deadly shrapnel swirled around 42-year-old Major Henry Bowreman Foote, temporarily promoted to lieutenant colonel and in command of a battalion of the Seventh Royal Tank Regiment. German artillery played havoc among Foote’s men and tanks, and the advance on a large enemy force and the gun positions that were causing such problems appeared to teeter on the brink of outright failure.
On 6 June 1942, the Seventh Royal Tank Regiment was heavily involved in the Battle of Gazala, a pivotal engagement in the Desert War that had raged across North Africa – a principle theatre of World War
