Bot at 08:05, 17 July 2022

2022-07-17T08:05:05Z

New page

{{short description|Recipient of the Victoria Cross}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= John Niel Randle
|image= John Neil Randle VC.jpg
|image_size=
|alt=
|caption=
|nickname=
|birth_date= {{birth date|df=yes|1917|12|22}}
|birth_place= [[Benares]] (now [[Varanasi]]), [[British Raj|British India]]
|death_date= {{death date and age|df=yes|1944|5|6|1917|12|22}}
|death_place= [[Kohima]], [[Assam]]
|placeofburial= [[Kohima War Cemetery]]
|allegiance= United Kingdom
|branch= [[British Army]]
|serviceyears= 1940–1944{{KIA}}
|rank= [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|Captain]]
|servicenumber= 130097
|unit= [[Royal Norfolk Regiment]]
|commands=
|battles= [[Second World War]]
* [[Burma campaign]]
** [[Burma campaign 1944–45|Burma campaign 1944]]
*** [[Operation U-Go]]
**** [[Battle of Kohima]] {{KIA}}
|awards= [[Victoria Cross]]
|relations= [[Leslie Thomas Manser]] VC (brother-in-law)
|laterwork=
}}
[[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|Captain]] '''John Niel Randle''', [[Victoria Cross|VC]] (22 December 1917 – 6 May 1944) was a [[British Army]] officer and a recipient of the [[Victoria Cross]] (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] forces. His was one of three [[Second World War]] VCs awarded for action in India, the other two being awarded to [[John Pennington Harman]] (also at the [[Battle of Kohima]]) and [[Abdul Hafiz (VC)|Abdul Hafiz]] at the [[Battle of Imphal]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brazier |first=Kevin |year=2015 |title=The Complete Victoria Cross |publisher=Pen and Sword |location=Barnsley |isbn=978-1-47384-351-6}} pp 330–331.</ref>

==Early life==
John Niel Randle was born in [[British Raj|India]],<ref name="IWM">[http://www.iwmcollections.org.uk/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll?AC=GET_RECORD&XC=/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll&BU=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwmcollections.org.uk%2FqryMain.php&TN=Uncat&SN=AUTO30390&SE=8809&RN=0&MR=25&TR=0&TX=1000&ES=0&CS=1&XP=&RF=allResults&EF=&DF=allDetails&RL=0&EL=0&DL=0&NP=1&ID=&MF=WPENGMSG.INI&MQ=&TI=0&DT=&ST=0&IR=40845&NR=0&NB=0&SV=0&BG=0&FG=0&QS= Imperial War Museum Exhibit data] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612204150/http://www.iwmcollections.org.uk/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll?AC=GET_RECORD&XC=%2Fdbtw-wpd%2Fexec%2Fdbtwpub.dll&BU=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwmcollections.org.uk%2FqryMain.php&TN=Uncat&SN=AUTO30390&SE=8809&RN=0&MR=25&TR=0&TX=1000&ES=0&CS=1&XP=&RF=allResults&EF=&DF=allDetails&RL=0&EL=0&DL=0&NP=1&ID=&MF=WPENGMSG.INI&MQ=&TI=0&DT=&ST=0&IR=40845&NR=0&NB=0&SV=0&BG=0&FG=0&QS= |date=12 June 2011 }}</ref> the son of Edith Joan, daughter of William Chaffey Whitby,<ref>Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, Kelly's Directories, 1973, p 2930</ref> and Dr. [[Herbert Niel Randle]], Librarian of the India Office Library,<ref>India Office Library & Records Report 1 April 1972 to 31 December 1973, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, 1972, p 5</ref> who was also Professor of Philosophy at Queen's College, [[Benares]]<ref>British Universities Encyclopaedia, Athenaeum Press, 1940, p 151</ref> and a writer on Indian philosophy.<ref>Fragments from [[Dignāga|Dinnaga]], Herbert Niel Randle, Motilal Banarsidass Indological Publishers, Booksellers & Exporters, 1981</ref><ref>A Source Book in Indian Philosophy, ed. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan & Charles A. Moore, Princeton University Press, 2014, p 660</ref>

Randle was educated at the [[Dragon School]], [[Marlborough College]], and [[Merton College, Oxford]].<ref name="MCreg">{{cite book|editor1-last=Levens|editor1-first=R.G.C.|title=Merton College Register 1900–1964|date=1964|publisher=Basil Blackwell|location=Oxford|page=277}}</ref> At Oxford he qualified in law. His best friend there, [[Leonard Cheshire]], was awarded the VC in the Second World War. Randle married Mavis Ellen Manser of [[Holywell, Oxford|Holywell]], [[Oxford]],<ref name="CWGC">[http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2601973/RANDLE,%20JOHN%20NIEL Commonwealth War Graves Commission Casualty 2601973]</ref> sister of [[Leslie Thomas Manser]] who was awarded the VC posthumously in 1942 after a bombing raid on Cologne.<ref name="IWM" />

==Military career==
Randle was commissioned a [[second lieutenant]] in the [[Royal Norfolk Regiment]] in May 1940.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34855|supp=y|page=3098|date=21 May 1940}}</ref> At the age of 26, he was promoted to [[Military rank#Types of rank|temporary]] [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]] whilst serving with the 2nd Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment.

Captain Randle was commander{{clarify|reason=Gazette says he took over as command after the company commander was killed |date=April 2013}} of 'B' Company, 2nd Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment. On 4 May 1944 during the [[Battle of Kohima]] in [[northeast India]], he was ordered to attack the Japanese flank on General Purpose Transport (GPT) Ridge during the relief and clearance of Kohima. The citation from the ''[[London Gazette]]'' reads:<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=36833|supp=y|page=5673|date=8 December 1944}}</ref>

{{blockquote|On the 4th May, 1944, at Kohima in [[Assam]], a Battalion of the Royal Norfolk Regiment attacked the Japanese positions on a nearby ridge. Captain Randle took over command of the Company which was leading the attack when the Company Commander was severely wounded. His handling of a difficult situation in the face of heavy fire was masterly and although wounded himself in the knee by grenade splinters he continued to inspire his men by his initiative, courage and outstanding leadership until the Company had captured its objective and consolidated its position. He then went forward and brought in all the wounded men who were lying outside the perimeter. In spite of his painful wound Captain Randle refused to be evacuated and insisted on carrying out a personal reconnaissance with great daring in bright moonlight prior to a further attack by his Company on the position to which the enemy had withdrawn. At dawn on 6th May the attack opened, led by Captain Randle, and one of the platoons succeeded in reaching the crest of the hill held by the Japanese. Another platoon, however, ran into heavy [[medium machine gun]] fire from a bunker on the reverse slope of the feature.

Captain Randle immediately appreciated that this particular bunker covered not only the rear of his new position but also the [[line of communication]] of the battalion and therefore the destruction of the enemy post was imperative if the operation was to succeed. With utter disregard of the obvious danger to himself Captain Randle charged the Japanese machine gun post single-handed with rifle and bayonet. Although bleeding in the face and mortally wounded by numerous bursts of machine gun fire he reached the bunker and silenced the gun with a grenade thrown through the bunker slit. He then flung his body across the slit so that the aperture should be completely sealed. The bravery shown by this officer could not have been surpassed and by his self-sacrifice he saved the lives of many of his men and enabled not only his own Company but the whole Battalion to gain its objective and win a decisive victory over the enemy.}}

==The medal==
His Victoria Cross is on loan to the [[Imperial War Museum]] by his son John. It is displayed alongside that of his friend [[Leonard Cheshire]].

==Legacy==
[[File:St Peter's Church, Petersham, Capt John Niel Randle, VC memorial.jpg|thumb|Memorial in St Peter's Church]]
Randle was portrayed by [[Tom Hiddleston]] in the 2006 television [[docudrama]] ''[[Victoria Cross Heroes]]'', which included archive footage, dramatisations of his actions and an interview with his son and grandson.

A memorial to Captain Randle is in [[Petersham Parish Church|St Peter's Church]], [[Petersham, London|Petersham]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Find a Grave|11764856}}
* [http://www.britishmilitaryhistory.co.uk/documents.php?aid=123&nid=16&start=10 British Military History Biographies R]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Randle, John Niel}}
[[Category:1917 births]]
[[Category:1944 deaths]]
[[Category:Military personnel of British India]]
[[Category:People from Varanasi]]
[[Category:People educated at The Dragon School]]
[[Category:People educated at Marlborough College]]
[[Category:Royal Norfolk Regiment officers]]
[[Category:British Army personnel killed in World War II]]
[[Category:British World War II recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:Alumni of Merton College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Burials at Kohima War Cemetery]]
[[Category:People of British India]]

John Niel Randle - Revision history

Bot at 08:05, 17 July 2022