William Cosgrove

William Cosgrove VC MSM
Born	1 October 1888 Aghada, County Cork
Died	14 July 1936 Millbank, London
Buried at	Upper Aghada
Allegiance	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1909 - 1935
Rank	Staff Sergeant
Unit	Royal Munster Fusiliers Northumberland Fusiliers Indian Territorial Force
Battles/wars	World War I
Awards	Victoria Cross Meritorious Service Medal

William Cosgrove VC MSM (1 October 1888 – 14 July 1936) 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.

William Cosgrove was born at Aghada, County Cork on 1 October 1888, the son of Michael and Mary Cosgrove. He had four brothers, Dan, Ned, David, Joseph and a sister Mary-Catherine. While they were still young their father emigrated to Australia, but later returned. In the meantime his wife moved with her children to a cottage in nearby Peafield, and the children attended school at the National School, Ballinrostig. William began work at as an apprentice butcher at Whitegate, and one of his daily chores was a morning delivery to Fort Carlisle (now Fort Davis) with a consignment of meat for the troops. It was from Fort Carlisle that he joined the army.

William Cosgrove enlisted in the Royal Munster Fusiliers on 24 March 1909 and was given the regimental number 8980. At the outbreak of war the 1st Battalion of the Munster Fusiliers was stationed in Rangoon, Burma, as regular battalions were routinely stationed overseas. They left Rangoon on 21 November 1914, and William Cosgrove (now Corporal) landed in England on 10 January 1915. Upon landing they still wore their Indian issue uniforms and stood on the cold quay in their khaki drill shorts. The battalion was then assigned to the 86th Brigade of the 29th Division (United Kingdom), in preparation for the landings at the Dardanelles.

The 1st Munsters, together with the 1st Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers and Hampshire Regiment, were on the converted collier ‘River Clyde’ when it ran ashore for the Cape Helles 'V’ beach landing on 25 April 1915 at 06.20 am. On departing from the ship's bay they were subject to fierce enfilading machine gun fire from hidden Turkish defences. One hundred or more of the Battalion's men fell at this stage of the battle, and those who managed to get ashore could not advance due to the withering Turkish fire. On the following day it was decided to destroy the wire entanglements facing the men, as the naval bombardment had failed to do so. It was during this attack that Corporal Cosgrove 1st RMF, performed the action that was to earn him the regiment's first Victoria Cross of the war. The action was described by Cosgrove himself:

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