Victoria Cross hero and MP gets green plaque
Leicestershire County CouncilA medal-winning war hero who went on to become an MP is being remembered with a plaque in his former constituency.
Captain Robert Gee was born in Leicester in 1876 but, aged nine, he was orphaned and sent to the workhouse.
He won the Military Cross on the Somme in 1916 and then the Victoria Cross for taking a machine-gun post in 1917.
He was MP for Bosworth in 1924 and a plaque has been unveiled at the Bosworth Conservative Association building in Hinckley.
After a time at the Leicester Workhouse, he went to the Countesthorpe Cottage Homes for orphaned children, where he lived until 1890.
He enlisted in the Army in 1893, joining the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers.
After serving during the Gallipoli campaign he was commissioned as Captain and then was seriously injured on the opening day of the Battle of the Somme.
Captain Gee's Victoria Cross was won in November 1917 when he single-handedly attacked and captured a German machine gun post at Masnieres and Les Rues Vertes in France.
He was presented with the medal by King George V at Buckingham Palace in February 1918.
After the war, Captain Gee became MP for East Woolwich in 1921 by defeating the future Labour Prime Minister, Ramsay McDonald.
He lost the election a year later but eventually returned to parliament in 1924 as MP for Bosworth.
Three years later he resigned his seat and emigrated to Australia in 1926, where he died in 1960 aged 84.
The Green Plaque is part of a countywide scheme for significant local people and places.
Councillor Dan Harrison chairman of Leicestershire County Council, said: "Captain Robert Gee was a true war hero, who was awarded the highest military honour - the Victoria Cross. He then went on to serve his country in another field - that of politics.
"He was a remarkable man - going from workhouse and orphanage to a life of incredible heroism and service and I am delighted to be able to unveil this Green Plaque in his honour."
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