Concordia Magazine 2025

Midshipman George Drewry — how the VC was won In spite of his youth, George Drewry was selected by Commander Unwin, who was in charge of the whole operation, to be his second-in-command on the SS River Clyde for the attempted landings on V beach. Large ports had been cut from the side of the ship, which was grounded on the shore and from which the troops disembarked across hoppers or pontoons. However, not all the pontoons were secure: a gap emerged between two of them which resulted in the advancing troops either drowning or being mown down by Turkish guns as they tried to reach the beach. Amid all this carnage, Midshipman Drewry set about trying to attach ropes to the drifting pontoons. At first he was successful, but subsequent Turkish shots severed the rope again and the pontoons drifted apart for a second time. George, now aboard the inshore pontoon and helping the wounded to return to the ship, was himself struck in the head by a shell fragment, but he bound his wound with a soldier’s scarf, leapt into the sea with a rope between his teeth and ultimately managed to lash both pontoons together again. George’s heroic and unselfish actions did not go unnoticed and he was awarded the VC as a mark of his bravery — the first officer of the Royal Naval Reserve and the Merchant Service to be honoured in this manner. A further five VCs were awarded to other military personnel in respect of the same action. SS River Clyde : the ship’s bell and the painting SS River Clyde was a 4000-ton collier ship built by Russell & Co. of Port Glasgow in March 1905. On 12 April 1915 it was purchased by the Admiralty and adapted as a landing ship in the form of a Trojan Horse to house 2000 troops who were ready to advance on V beach at the outset of the Gallipoli landings two weeks later. SS River Clyde remained grounded in position until the Cape Helles beach-head was finally established; it then became a field-dressing station for the wounded, despite being within constant range of Turkish gunfire.

In 1919 SS River Clyde was refloated and repaired in Malta. It was then sold to a Spanish company and continued to operate around the Mediterranean (including use as a troop-carrying ship in World War II) until it was finally broken up in 1966.

The ship’s bell was acquired by George Drewry and displayed on the front page of the Daily Sketch

on 22 November 1916, the day of his investiture at Buckingham Palace. It was retained by his parents on his death in August 1918 before being passed on to George’s eldest brother, Herbert Percy, and then given to the School on Herbert’s death in 1969. Charles Edward Dixon was a well-known World War I artist who specialised in marine subjects. His paintings included ‘The Landing of Troops from the River Clyde at V Beach, Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey, 25 April 1915’. The original is in St Mary’s Priory and Parish Church in Chepstow and was unveiled in 1922 by Commander Edward Unwin VC to commemorate the posthumous VC awarded to Able Seaman William Charles Williams who had assisted George Drewry in trying to secure the pontoons linking the SS River Clyde to the beach. George Drewry’s younger brother, Ralph, was also an artist. In 1927, inspired by Charles Dixon’s painting, he produced his own version of the V beach landing (pictured right). This was also donated to the School following Herbert’s death. Paul Collins

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