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Stonyhurst College near Clitheroe has a proud tradition of pupils who have gone on to win the Victoria Cross - Britain's highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy.
The college has seven recipients. Three of them were awarded for bravery during the World War One – including the very first one of the conflict.

Lieutenant Maurice Dease had been born in Ireland but he was educated as a boarder at Stonyhurst for five years. After officer training at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, he joined the Royal Fusiliers. He was posthumously awarded the VC at Mons on 23 August 1914, along with Private Sidney Godley. Lieutenant Dease had remained in charge of his machine guns section despite being hit several times. He died of his wounds.

The other Stonyhurst VC winners in WW1 were Captain John Liddell in 1915 and Second Lieutenant Gabriel Coury in 1916.

Portraits of all seven Victoria Cross winners can still be found on display in the college

Location: Stonyhurst College, Clitheroe BB7 9PZ
Image: Lieutenant Maurice Dease, courtesy of Stonyhurst College

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