Lieutenant William Basil Weston VC


William Basil Weston was born in Ulverston, Cumbria, on 3 Jan 1924. He was commissioned into the Green Howards but he was attached to the 1st Battalion West Yorkshires. On 3 Mar 1945, during the attack on Meiktila in Burma, Lt Watson was commanding a platoon of unseasoned troops which, together with the rest of the company, had to clear an area of the town to a distance of 1,600 yards. They were faced with a fanatical Japanese enemy so he had to inspire his men to a high degree. He led them superbly from one enemy position to another until they were near the end of their sweep. There was one last bunker to overcome and Weston, as usual, led the attack but was wounded at the entrance of the bunker. He knew that his men would not be able to complete the task without heavy casualties so he took out a grenade and blew himself up, causing heavy enemy fatalities in the bunker. There are memorials to him at the Taukkyan War Cemetery in Burma and St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Ulverston. He was posthumously awarded the VC, gazetted on 15 May 1945.


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