William Metcalf was one of seven Canadians to be awarded the Victoria Cross for their actions on one single day, 2 September 1918, for actions across the 30-kilometre-long (19 mi) Drocourt-Quéant Line near Arras, France. The other six recipients were Bellenden Hutcheson, Arthur George Knight, Claude Joseph Patrick Nunney, Cyrus Wesley Peck, Walter Leigh Rayfield and John Francis Young. He was 23 years old, and a lance corporal in the 16th (Canadian Scottish) Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. On 2 September 1918 at Arras, France, when the right flank of the battalion was held up, Lance Corporal Metcalf rushed forward under intense machine-gun fire to a passing tank and with his signal flag walked in front of the tank directing it along the trench in a perfect hail of bullets and bombs. The machine-gun strong-point was overcome, very heavy casualties were inflicted and a critical situation was relieved. Later, although wounded, Corporal Metcalf continued to advance until ordered to get into a shell-hole and have his wounds dressed. William Metcalf was born on 29 January 1894 at Talmadge, Washington, Maine, the son of Henry Metcalf and Theresa Lorinzo Varnum He married Dorothy Winifred Holland Metcalf (1898–1992) on 20 November 1918 in Sussex, England, and had four children, William Scott Metcalf (1919–93), Stuart Holland Metcalfe (1925–1998), Sheila D Metcalf (c1927- ?), and Stanley H Metcalf (c1937-?). He died in South Portland, Cumberland, Maine on 8 August 1968.