David Nelson (VC)
Recipient of the Victoria Cross
title: "David Nelson (VC)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1887-births", "1918-deaths", "irish-officers-in-the-british-army", "people-from-county-monaghan", "irish-world-war-i-recipients-of-the-victoria-cross", "royal-artillery-officers", "british-military-personnel-killed-in-world-war-i", "british-army-personnel-of-world-war-i", "royal-horse-artillery-soldiers", "british-army-recipients-of-the-victoria-cross", "british-world-war-i-recipients-of-the-victoria-cross", "military-personnel-from-county-monaghan"] description: "Recipient of the Victoria Cross" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Nelson_(VC)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Recipient of the Victoria Cross ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox military person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | David Nelson |
| honorific_suffix | VC |
| birth_date | |
| death_date | |
| birth_place | Stranooden, County Monaghan, Ireland, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |
| death_place | Lillers, French Third Republic |
| placeofburial | France |
| image | David Nelson VC.jpg |
| allegiance | United Kingdom |
| serviceyears | 1904–1918 |
| rank | Major |
| branch | |
| commands | D Battery, 59th Brigade |
| unit | Royal Artillery |
| battles | World War I |
| awards | Victoria Cross |
| :: |
|name= David Nelson |honorific_suffix= VC |birth_date= |death_date= |birth_place=Stranooden, County Monaghan, Ireland, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |death_place=Lillers, French Third Republic |placeofburial= France |image= David Nelson VC.jpg |image_size= |caption= |nickname= |allegiance=United Kingdom |serviceyears= 1904–1918 |rank= Major |branch= |commands=D Battery, 59th Brigade |unit=Royal Artillery |battles=World War I |awards= Victoria Cross |laterwork=
Major David Nelson VC (3 April 1887 – 8 April 1918) was an Irish 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.
Military career
Nelson was born in Deraghland, Stranooden, County Monaghan, Ireland, to David Nelson and Mary Anne Black. He was 28 years old, and a sergeant in 'L' Battery, Royal Horse Artillery (RHA), British Army during World War I when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
Main article: Action at Néry
::quote On 1 September 1914 at Néry, France, Sergeant Nelson helped to bring the guns into action – with an officer (Edward Kinder Bradbury) and a warrant officer (George Thomas Dorrell) – under heavy fire and in spite of being severely wounded. He remained with the guns until all the ammunition was expended, although he had been ordered to retire to cover. ::
Nelson later achieved the rank of major. He was killed in action at Lillers, France, on 8 April 1918.
His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Imperial War Museum in London and his action at Néry is commemorated in a display at the Cart and Wagon Shed heritage centre in Shoeburyness.
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/NéryGunIWMApril2008.jpg" caption="The Nery gun"] ::
References
**Listed in order of publication year **
- The Register of the Victoria Cross (1981, 1988 and 1997)
- Ireland's VCs (Dept of Economic Development, 1995)
- Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
- Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross (Richard Doherty & David Truesdale, 2000)
References
- {{London Gazette. (13 November 1914)
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::