Charles Pope

Charles Pope, VC (5 March 1883 – 15 April 1917) was an Australian 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. He received the Victoria Cross posthumously for his actions on 15 April 1917 on the Western Front at the Battle of Lagnicourt, which took place during the First World War.

Early life Born in Mile End, London, on 5 March 1883, Charles Pope's parents were William, a Metropolitan Police constable, and Jane Pope (born Clark). He attended school in Navestock, Essex, before moving to Canada where he worked for Canadian Pacific Railways. He returned to England in 1906 and joined the Metropolitan Police. Later that year, at St Luke's Anglican Church in Chelsea, he married Edith Smith, with whom he later had two children, Edith Maude and Charles William. In 1910, Pope resigned from the police force and moved his family to Perth, Western Australia. He took up work as a furniture salesman and then took on a role in the insurance sector. although heavy losses were inflicted. He had "obeyed the order to hold out to the last"