# Wounded 11 times but he kept going back – a WWI story that takes your breath away

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/wounded-11-times-but-he-kept-going-back-a-wwi-story-that-takes-your-breath-away/
- Published: 2026-11-08T07:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-08T07:20:47+00:00
- Original publisher: Daily Express (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/2263525/wounded-11-times-kept-going
- Topics: UK, World

## Key points

- Bernard Vann was the only combatant Church of England cleric to win the Victoria Cross.
- At least 500 Anglican clergy fought in the First World War.
- Around 5,000 men served as military chaplains in the trenches.

## Summary

Reverend Bernard Vann, a Church of England priest from the Cotswolds, chose to serve as an infantryman in the First World War rather than as a chaplain. He won the Victoria Cross for his service on the Western Front, but was killed just days before the Armistice, leaving behind his wife and infant son.

The article describes Vann as the only Church of England cleric to receive the Victoria Cross as a combatant, among at least 500 Anglican clergy who fought in the war. It also recounts the deaths of priests Robert Callaway, Frederick Hulton-Sams and Hugh Speke, and notes that around 5,000 men of different faiths served as military chaplains in the trenches.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.