APPENDIX “I.”
Extract from the Supplement dated 28th June, 1918, to the “London Gazette” dated 25th June, 1918.
War Office, 28th June, 1918.
His Majesty The King has been graciously pleased to approve of the award of the Victoria Cross to the undermentioned Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and Men:—
2nd Lieut. Joseph Henry Collin, late Royal Lancaster Regiment.
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 and 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.