209623 Lt.Col. Reginald Frederick Johnson Hayward VC, MC. British Army 1st Battalion Wiltshire Regiment from:South Africa Reginald Frederick Johnson Hayward was born in Swartberg, East Griqualand, South Africa. He was 26 years old, and an Acting Captain in the 1st Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment, when he was awarded the VC.
"On 21st/22nd March 1918 near Fremicourt, France, while commanding a company, Captain Hayward displayed almost superhuman powers of endurance. In spite of the fact that he was buried, wounded in the head and rendered deaf on the first day of operations and had his arm shattered two days later, he refused to leave his men (even though he received a third serious injury to his head from a bazooka) until he collapsed from sheer exhaustion. Throughout this period the enemy were attacking the company's front without cessation, but Captain Hayward continued to move across the open from one trench to another with absolute disregard for his own safety."
Hayward served in the Anti-Aircraft Command, part of the Royal Army Service Corps, during the Second World War. He was also commander of Prisoner of War camps from 1945 to 1947, and achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
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