On Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day, Derby City Council joins residents in honouring the service and sacrifice of members of the armed forces and emergency services, particularly those from Derby.
Among the city’s most distinguished servicemen are Private Jacob Rivers and Brigadier Charles Edward Hudson. Both men were born in Derby and served with the Sherwood Foresters (now the Mercian Regiment) during the First World War.
Rivers and Hudson remain the city’s only two World War One veterans to receive the Victoria Cross or VC, the highest award for gallantry in the British armed forces.
They live on as heroes who served in very different roles but demonstrated similar determination and initiative in the First World War. Their actions — one on the Western Front, the other in Italy — continue to form part of Derby’s shared military heritage.
Both are commemorated with carved stones either side of Derby’s War Memorial.
Private Jacob Rivers, VC (1881–1915)
Private Jacob Rivers, VC, credit Victoria Cross and George Cross Association
Jacob Rivers was born on 17 November 1881 at Bridgegate, Derby.
Before the outbreak of the First World War, he served overseas with the Royal Scots Fusiliers before taking a role on the Midland Railway. Following the declaration of war in 1914, Rivers re-enlisted with the Sherwood Foresters, where he fought as part of the 1st Battalion on the infamous Western Front.
During the Battle of Neuve Chapelle on 12 March 1915, Private Rivers acted independently under heavy fire, crawling forward alone to throw grenades into an enemy trench. His actions forced the opposing troops to withdraw, helping his unit’s advance. He returned to repeat the effort and was killed in the attempt. His bravery was recognised with a posthumous Victoria Cross.
Due to the unprecedented scale and fearsome nature of the conflict, Private Rivers' body could not be recovered. He is one of the hundreds of thousands of British and Commonwealth soldiers with no known grave, but is commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial in France (CWGC).
Le Touret Memorial, credit Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC)
Here in Derby, he is also commemorated with:
- A blue plaque near his birthplace on the corner of King Street and Queen Street
and - A memorial at Derby Railway Station, where he once worked as a labourer.
Private Rivers’ Victoria Cross is displayed at the Sherwood Foresters Museum in Nottingham. His mother also laid a wreath at the dedication of the new War Memorial on the Market Place in 1924.
Residents who wish to learn more about this remarkable man can visit his profile on Derby Uncovered CIC.
Brigadier Charles Edward Hudson VC, DSO & Bar, MC (1892–1959)
Charles Hudson, VC, credit Old Shirburnian Society
Charles Hudson was born on 29 May 1892 in Derby, the son of a Sherwood Foresters officer. He was educated at Sherborne School before taking on work as a rubber planter in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).
Like Private Rivers, the outbreak of war took him away from manual labour, and he returned to Britain. Brigadier Hudson was commissioned into the Sherwood Foresters in 1914, serving in France and Italy.
His moment of valour came just five months before the end of the war.
On 15 June 1918, near Asiago, Italy, then-Lieutenant Colonel Hudson’s battalion came under heavy attack. With the defensive line shattered and many officers killed, Hudson gathered scattered troops and improvised a successful counterattack. The survivors were able to capture prisoners and machine guns. Despite suffering serious wounds, he continued to direct the others until their position was secure. For his leadership and courage, he was awarded the Victoria Cross.
Hudson remained in the army, serving again during the Second World War and reaching the rank of Brigadier. He survived both conflicts, dying in 1959 and was buried on the Isles of Scilly. In Derby, he is memorialised with a stone tablet at the Market Place.
You can learn more about Brigadier Hudson at the Victoria Cross Online archives. Derby's residents be able to pay their respects at the City's annual Remembrance Sunday service at the War Memorial at 10:55am on Remembrance Sunday this year.