Francis Octavius Grenfell

Francis Octavius Grenfell
Captain Francis Grenfell VC
Born	4 September 1880 Surrey, England
Died	24 May 1915 (aged 34) Hooge, Belgium
Buried at	Hooge Crater Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1900 - 1915 †
Rank	Captain
Unit	King's Royal Rifle Corps 9th Lancers
Battles/wars	Second Boer War World War I
Awards	Victoria Cross
Relations	Field Marshal Francis Grenfell, 1st Baron Grenfell (uncle) Julian Grenfell (cousin) Admiral John Pascoe Grenfell (grandfather)

Francis Octavius Grenfell, VC (4 September 1880 – 24 May 1915) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross.

He was born on 4 September 1880 to Sophia and Pascoe Du Pré Grenfell. He was one of fifteen children. He had a twin brother, Riversdale Grenfell, also in the 9th Lancers, who was killed in action in September 1914. Their maternal grandfather was Admiral John Pascoe Grenfell and other relatives included their uncle, Field Marshal Francis Grenfell, 1st Baron Grenfell. An older brother, Lieutenant Robert Septimus Grenfell, 21st (Empress of India's) Lancers, was killed in a cavalry charge during the Battle of Omdurman in 1898. Three other brothers, Cecil Grenfell, Howard Maxwell Grenfell and Arthur Morton Grenfell all reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the British Army. A cousin, Lieutenant Claude George Grenfell (Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry) was killed at Spion Kop during the Boer War and two other cousins Julian Grenfell, the poet, and his brother, Gerald William Grenfell, were killed in the First World War.

An Etonian who represented his school at cricket, Grenfell joined the army in 1900 and first served in the Second Boer War in the King's Royal Rifle Corps.

Grenfell was 33 years old, and a Captain in the 9th (Queen's Royal) Lancers, British Army during the First World War when the following deed during the Action of Elouges took place for which he was awarded the VC.