William Coltman volunteered for the British Army in January 1915, during the opening months of WW1. He served in 1/6th battalion of The North Staffordshire Regiment, and even though he didn't believe in killing due to his faith, he had decided to put that aside to fight for his country.
However, he vowed never again to shoulder a rifle, after spending a night trapped under heavy fire in a foxhole listening to the cries of wounded soldiers. The next morning, he submitted a request to retrain as a stretcher bearer.
In a span of 2 years, he managed to rescue an unprecedented number of lives under brutal conditions. He would rescue wounded men stranded on no man's land regularly; often going alone to rescue those who were intentionally left behind to die.
He rescued soldiers trapped in tunnels, buried alive in shell holes or drowning in the mud; all under continuous mortar, artillery and machinegun fire.
He became the most decorated enlisted British soldier of the war without firing a single shot, earning the Victoria Cross after rescuing wounded men for 48hrs straight until collapsing from the lack of sleep.
When he returned home to a hero’s welcome, the modest medic got off the train earlier and walked 20 miles home to dodge the crowd waiting to cheer him at the train station.
He was however given full honours when he was invited to Buckingham Palace to receive his Victoria Cross from King George V.
After the war, Coltman took a job as a grounds keeper with the town’s Parks Department, living a quite life until his death in 1974. #ww1 #humblehardfuck #stayzero #zerofoxtrot