Thomas Fasti Dinesen VC

b. 09/08/1892 Rungsted, Denmark. d. 10/03/1979 Leerbaek, Denmark.

Thomas Fasti Dinesen (1892-1979) was born on 9th August 1892 at Rungstedlund, Rungsted Kyst, Denmark. His father, Kaptajn Adolph Wilhelm Dinesen, known as Wilhelm, was born in Katholm Castle. He was admitted as an officer cadet to the Military Academy in Copenhagen in 1863 and was commissioned in the 9th Regiment in October 1863. He saw active service as an artillery lieutenant in the Second Schleswig War. When he was 25, he met and fell in love with his cousin, Countess Agnes Frijs, but they were not social equals, and a marriage was ruled out. Tragically she died of typhoid two years later. Wilhelm served as an officer in the French Army during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. In 1872 he travelled to Quebec and then Chicago, USA, where he gained employment as a corn merchant, and later as a postmaster. In 1874, he was recalled to Denmark as his mother was dying, and became a landowner. He married Ingeborg Westenholz at Thyrsting Kirke, Mastrup on 17th May 1881. He went on to write several books and became an MP between 1892-95. Tragically he committed suicide on 28th March 1895. Thomas had four siblings. One of his sisters, Karen, later became the authoress of “Out of Africa”.

Thomas was educated at a local state school and at the Polytechnical School in Copenhagen, graduating in civil engineering in January 1916. He was offered the inheritance of the estate at Katholm in 1916 on the death of his paternal uncle but turned it down.

Thomas F Dinesen VC

On the outbreak of the First World War he unsuccessfully attempted to join the French Army, the British Army and the US Army. Thomas had been rejected by the Danish Royal Navy in 1916 due to injuries to his knee from a skiing accident but managed to pass the Canadian Expeditionary Force medical exam. In addition, he was an avowed atheist and felt he could not swear that he would serve King George V. He was able to join the kilted Black Watch by indicating that he was Presbyterian and against regulations swearing to be loyal to his regiment. Finally, whilst in New York, Dinesen was accepted by a Canadian Recruiting Office, and was drafted into the 42nd Battalion, Quebec Regiment ( Royal Highlanders of Canada ) in Montreal.

He was assigned to 2nd Reinforcing Company, 5th Royal Highlanders of Canada. After three months of basic training, much of it as McGill University, he was drafted to England, arriving in Liverpool on 17th October and was posted to 20th Reserve Battalion at Bramshott, Hampshire. He was finally sent to France in March 1918, and assigned to 15 Platoon, D Company and went into the front line for the first time on 24th March in a listening post. In April he took part in a small raid led by Lieutenant Scott that had to be abandoned before reaching enemy lines.

Private Dinesen earned the Victoria Cross as a result of his actions on 12th August 1918 in the first days of the Allied offensive known as the Battle of Amiens. On that day, his exertions over ten hours resulted in the capture of more than 1.5 kilometres of stubbornly defended German trenches at Parvillers. As well as engaging in hand-to-hand fighting, Dinesen rushed forward alone five times to put hostile machine guns out of action, killing 12 of the enemy. In recognition of Private Dinesen’s achievement, the French Government awarded him the Croix de Guerre, and he was commissioned as an officer in November 1918. He was first Danish recipient of the VC. The VC was presented to Thomas by King George V at Buckingham Palace on 13th December 1918. Afterwards he went for a long walk across Hampstead Heath.

Thomas Dinesen resigned his commission in January 1919 and moved to British East Africa to help his sister, Karen Blixen ( of “Out of Africa ” fame) manage her coffee farm in the Ngong hills southwest of Nairobi. He designed and largely built the farm’s coffee-roasting plant. Early in 1923 he returned to Denmark. He combined farming on the family estate with a literary career. In 1929 he published the book “No Man’s Land: En Dansker Med Canadierne Ved Vestfronten. ” It was translated into English in 1930 under the title “Merry Hell! A Dane with the Canadians”. He describes his circuitous journey to enlistment in the C.E.F. and life on the Western Front as well as the events that saw him awarded the V.C.

Thomas married Jonna Marie Lindhardt on 7th April 1926 at Aarhus Raadhus, Aarhus. They settled at Vaenget, a large estate outside Hillerod, until 1969, when it was demolished. They then moved to an estate at Leerbaek, Jutland. During the German occupation of 1940-45, Jonna hid large numbers of resistance fighters until they managed to escape to Sweden. Thomas was in charge of the air raid warning in Hillerod. Their home was never raided by the Germans and during the war, his Black Watch uniform hung on a peg outside his bedroom. He was awarded the Finnish Humanity Medal for his aid to Finnish refugees during the Winter War of 1940-42. They had four children.

Thomas attended several VC reunions – the VC Dinner at the House of Lords on 9th November 1929, the VC Centenary Celebrations in Hyde Park on 26th June 1956, and the 3rd and 9th VC & GC Association Reunions at the Cafe Royal on 18th July 1962 and 23rd May 1974. He also attended a dinner for Canadian VCs held at Government House, Ottawa on 16th June 1962.

Thomas Dinesen died on the 10th March 1979 in the town of Leerbaek in Denmark and is buried in the nearby Hoersholm Cemetery. He is commemorated by being named on the VC obelisk at Barrie, Ontario and with a VC commemorative stone at the National Memorial Arboretum, Alrewas, Staffordshire unveiled on 5th March 2015.

His medals including the VC, British War Medal (1914-20), Victory Medal (1914-19), King George VI Coronation Medal (1937), Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal (1953), Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal (1977), Knight, Order of Dannebrog (Denmark), Croix de Guerre (France), and Pro Benignitate Humana Medal (Finland) were acquired by the Lord Ashcroft Trust the holding institution for the Lord Ashcroft VC Collection in December 2013.

LOCATION OF MEDAL: LORD ASHCROFT COLLECTION.

BURIAL PLACE: HORSHOLM CHURCHYARD, HORSHOLM, FREDERIKSBORG, DENMARK.