Mexborough and Swinton Times April 12, 1919
Conisboro’ V.C. Homecoming – The Highest Honour on Earth
Capt Harrison, in making the presentation, said that his wildest dreams he had never imagined this occasion. The V.C. was the highest honour that could be bestowed upon Earth – there was no honour that preceded it. (Applause.) It was very oftenwon at the cost of life – and it was alwayswon at the risk of life. Sgt Calvert claimed he had only done his duty, and all the speaker hoped was that they all should have the same conception of duty. (Hear, hear).
Sgt Calvert might have thought that it would not have made any great difference to the winning or losing of the war, whether he acted as he did not. But that was a question which he did not ask of himself. He saw his duty and he did it. These heroes were always modest – naturally so, and it was notto themthat one should go to hear the true facts of the case. The V.C. was not the only award that Sgt Calverthad gained. He had, in addition, the Military Medal and he was a Chevalier of the Order of Leopold, and that showed that the action which game for him the most coveted distinction was not merely a “flash in the pan.” His conduct throughout the war must have been exceptionally gallant. (Applause.)
A V.C. was not made by one deed; a V.C. simply could not help being gallant.(Applause.) He did his duty, and it was his sublime sense of duty that counted.
The record of Denaby and Conisborough was a good one – second to none. (Applause.) And the subscription list for their VC was not excelled, he thought, by any other district. But it was not merely the monetary value of the present that counted, it was a fact that it was the emblem of sincere feeling and appreciation. He handed those gifts to Sgt Calvert in the name of the people of Denaby and Conisborough, in the name of England, in the name of all humanity which owed to such heroes as these what it could never repay. V.C.´s were distributed sparingly, they were not thrown away like Iron Crosses (Laughter.) Not one man in 10,000 in the British army was awarded one, and that was why they were showing their appreciation in so high and tangible a way. (Loud applause)