Victor, the only son of Ephraim and Alice Catchpole, was born on 18th October 1897 in Bredfield, Suffolk. In 1911, the family were living in Doe’s Alley, Melton, and thirteen-year-old Victor was working as a golf caddy. A few years later, he had joined the Post Office and was working as a postman in the Woodbridge area.

Postmen were eligible to enlist in the 8th (City of London) Battalion (Post Office Rifles) and on 25th April 1915, Victor joined the 2/8th Post Office Rifles, a reserve battalion intended to provide reinforcements for the 1st Battalion who were already overseas. Due to the needs of the war, however, Victor and the 2/8th Battalion were posted to France, arriving in Le Havre on 26th January 1917.

Their first major action was at the Second Battle of Bullecourt in May 1917. From here, the battalion was sent to Flanders where they took part in the Battle of Messines Ridge and were present throughout the Third Battle of Ypres or Passchendaele. On 20th September, they aided in the capture of Wurst Farm Ridge during the Battle of Menin Ridge. Sadly, the 8th Post Office Rifles lost over half its strength in this action—its men were awarded forty gallantry medals for their efforts. Victor was not with them as he was in hospital recovering from a bout of trench fever.

In February 1918, the 1/8th and the 2/8th Post Office Rifles merged into a single unit as the 8th Post Office Rifles. On 21st March, the German Spring Offensive began with Victor and the battalion seeing action in the Battle of Baupaume. On the 8th August, the One Hundred Days Offensive was launched with the the Battle of Amiens. The 8th Post Office Rifles were involved from the outset. Two days later, Victor was wounded and taken first to the No.4 Casualty Clearing Station (CSS) at Colincamps on the Somme, then sent to the 47th General Hospital at Le Treport for further treatment for shrapnel wounds to his hand and thigh.

Victor returned briefly to his battalion on the 15th September 1918 but on the 24^th September, he was wounded again from the effects of a gas, and after treatment at the No.20 CSS at Heilly, he was transferred to the 1st Australian General Hospital in Rouen and then back to the UK, crossing the channel on the SS Panama on 29th. He stayed in hospital a month before being posted to the Battalion Depot in London where he remained until discharged on 13th March 1919. For his war service, Victor received the 1914-15 Star, the British War and Victory Medals and the Silver War Badge.

In 1920, Victor married Edith Grace Chatfield in Woodbridge and continued to work as a postman. They moved to the Colchester area where, in 1939, Victor was employed as a driver for the post office. Victor died in 1981.