Rear Admiral Basil Charles Godfrey Place VC, CB, CVO, DSC (19 July 1921–27 December 1994) was an English 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.
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Details
He was 22 years old, and a lieutenant in the Royal Navy during the Second World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. On 22 September 1943 at Kåfjord, North Norway, Lieutenant Place, commanding Midget Submarine X.7, and another lieutenant (Donald Cameron) commanding Midget Submarine X.6, carried out a most daring and successful attack on the German Battleship Tirpitz. The two submarines had to travel at least 1,000 miles from base, negotiate a mine-field, dodge nets, gun defenses and enemy listening posts. Having eluded all these hazards they finally placed the charges underneath the ship where they went off an hour later, doing so much damage that Tirpitz was out of action for months.
Further information
He later achieved the rank of rear-admiral.
The medal
His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Imperial War Museum (London, England).
References
- British VCs of World War 2 (John Laffin, 1997)
- Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
- The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
- Scotland's Forgotten Valour (Graham Ross, 1995)
- Antoni Chmielowski
External links
- Location of grave and VC medal (Somerset)
