Claude Nunney
| Claude Joseph Patrick Nunney | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
24 December 1892 Hastings, England or Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | 18 September 1918 (aged 25) Vis-en-Artois, France |
| Buried at | Aubigny Communal Cemetery Extension, near Aubigny-en-Artois |
| Allegiance |
 Canada
|
| Service/branch | Canadian Expeditionary Force |
| Years of service | 1915–1918 |
| Rank | Corporal |
| Unit | 38th Battalion, CEF |
| Battles/wars | First World War |
| Awards |
Victoria Cross Distinguished Conduct Medal Military Medal |
Claude Joseph Patrick Nunney VC, DCM, MM (24 December 1892 – 18 September 1918) was a Canadian soldier. Nunney was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Born in Hastings in East Sussex, he was sent to Canada as a home child.
Nunney was one of the seven Canadians to be awarded the Victoria Cross for their actions on one single day, 2 September 1918, for actions across the 30 km long Drocourt-Quéant Line near Arras, France. The other six were Bellenden Hutcheson, Arthur George Knight, William Henry Metcalf, Cyrus Wesley Peck, Walter Leigh Rayfield and John Francis Young.
Claude Joseph Patrick Nunney VC is buried in Aubigny Communal Cemetery Extension; he was born in Hastings as Stephen Sargent Claude Nunney. His father was William Percy Nunney and his mother Mary Nunney formerly Sargent at 42 Bexhill Road, Hastings on 19 July 1892. His father was born in Burford, Oxfordshire. Claude, as he was called within his family, was the fourth of eight children. The family left Hastings in 1895 and moved to Kentish Town, St Pancras, in London where his mother was to sadly die of food poisoning in February 1899. Two of Claude’s younger siblings died very young, and of the remaining six, five passed into the care of the Catholic Church. The three boys born in Hastings, Frederick George, Stephen Claude and Alfred Nunney all became “Home Children” in Canada.
Alfred and Stephen Nunney travelled together aboard the SS Tunisian in October 1905 to Quebec and then on to St George’s Home at Hintonberg, Ottawa, Ontario. They were split up and sent to different families, Alfred moving to the Micksburg County, Renfrew, and Claude to North Lancaster. Alfred was just twelve, as he was born on 29 September 1893, and Claude thirteen when they went in their separate directions. Claude Nunney was placed with Mrs Donald Roy McDonald, where he lived and worked as a “Home Child”. The term “Home Child” covered the young girls and boys sent as child emigrants by various agencies to Canada to start new lives.
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Wikipedia