Lieutenant Colonel Bernard William Vann, (9 July 1887 – 3 October 1918) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Also an ordained priest, he was the only cleric of the Church of England to be awarded the VC in the First World War for his actions as a combatant. Early life Vann was born on 9 July 1887 in Rushden, in Northamptonshire, where his parents, Alfred George Collins Vann and Hannah Elizabeth Vann were teachers. He attended Chichele College, Higham Ferrers, where his father was headmaster. Vann was a keen footballer who played for amateur teams at Hugglescote United, Irthlingborough, and Northampton Town. During the 1906/1907 season, he played for Burton United, then a League club. He made five appearances that season and then joined Derby County, making the first of his three league appearances for the club on 23 March 1907. Later that year, he played for Leicester Fosse, playing in two non-league games for the club. From 1907 to 1910, Vann was a student at Jesus College, Cambridge, reading History. His brother, Arthur Harrison Allard Vann, matriculated at Jesus in 1909, aged 25. While at the University of Cambridge, Bernard served in the Officers' Training Corps as a sergeant. During this time, he played for Mansfield Wesley. In 1910, his final year of studies, he was a hockey blue for the university. After graduation, Vann taught at Ashby-de-la-Zouch Grammar School in Leicestershire but then decided on a career in the priesthood. He was ordained a deacon in the Church of England in October 1910 and, in December 1911, he was ordained as a priest. He was licensed as a curate at St Barnabas' Church in the New Humberstone suburb of Leicester and then at St Saviour's Church in the same city. In January 1913, he became chaplain and assistant master at Wellingborough School. First World War On the outbreak of the First World War, Vann volunteered as a military chaplain but, frustrated by difficulties and delays, enlisted in the infantry instead, initially in 28th (County of London) Battalion of The London Regiment, (The Artists' Rifles). Shortly afterwards, he was commissioned into the 1/8th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters (The Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) on 1 September 1914. With his battalion, Vann served in the