Corporal Harry Churchill Beet, VC
Stopped to help when he should have retreated.
He risked his life during the Boer War, served Canada in the First World War and lived in Canada for most of his life. Still, his name is not on the 'official' list of C
Early Life
Harry Churchill Beet was born on April 1, 1875, at Vrackendale Farm, Bingham, Nottinghamshire, England, the son of J.A. Beet, a sculptor. When he came of age he enlisted in the Derbyshire Regiment (later known as the Sherwood Foresters) and served in India, fighting along the Punjab Frontier. By the time the Boer War broke out in October 1899, Beet had been promoted to corporal.
Boer WarBoth regular battalions of his regiment were stationed at Malta and the lst Battalion, to which he belonged, was embarked for South Africa in November while the 2nd Battalion stayed behind to provide replacements and recruit volunteers.The Derbyshire Regiment saw action many times during the war, engaging the enemy 28 times in battles and skirmishes. On one occasion Corporal Beet and his comrades covered 400 miles in forty-five days.
Victoria Cross Action
Near noon on April 22, 1900 the Derbyshire Regiment found itself in action near Wakkerstroom. Corporal Beet was involved in a fierce fire-fight near a farm under a Boer held ridge. Two squadrons of Imperial Yeomanry and an infantry company had been forced to retire due to heavy casualties when Beet came across the wounded Corporal Burnett lying in the dry, brown grass. He could easily have passed the man by and continued to retreat but instead chose to stop and offer assistance. The man was in the open and would probably have been shot again if Harry Beet did not get him to cover. Having successfully managed to drag the man to a less exposed position, Beet proceeded to bind his wounds.
By this time the Boers had started down from the ridge and converged on the farmhouse. Not wanting to leave the man whose wounds he had just dressed, Beet began firing at the enemy and halted their advance for the entire afternoon. Though under heavy fire and a scorching hot sun, Beet held his position. Finally, darkness fell and ended the skirmish, permitting a medical officer to relieve Beet of his charge. For this selfless deed, Harry Beet was promoted to sergeant and awarded the Victoria Cross.
Off to Canada and Another War
The Derbyshire Regiment remained in South Africa until the end of the war in 1902. Sometime during this time Beet was wounded in the left shoulder and leg below the knee. Sergeant Beet was presented with his Victoria Cross by the Duke of York in Natal in 1901. He immigrated to Canada in 1906, becoming a farmer near Daysville, Saskatchewan.
Harry Beet was 39 years old and had a wife and children when the First World War broke out in 1914, but he enlisted in the 22nd Saskatchewan Light Horse on December 29. He traveled to Winnipeg, Manitoba where he became part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Harry was commissioned a lieutenant overseas and later attained the rank of captain. After the war he returned to Canada, eventually settling in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Harry Beet died on January 10, 1946 in Vancouver and was buried at Mountain View Cemetery. There is a memorial to him in the Vancouver Veterans Cemetery and another was erected in 1995 on his homestead near Glaslyn, Saskatchewan. His VC is on display in the Sherwood Foresters Museum, Nottingham Castle, Nottingham.
For more on Canada's Victoria Cross.
Bibliography
Arthur, Max. Symbol of Courage. London; Sidgwick & Jackson, 2004
Bishop, Arthur. Our Bravest and Our Best. Toronto; McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1995
Swettenham, John (ed.). Valiant Men. Toronto; Canadian War Museum, 1973
