[1] Ervine-Andrews was 28 years old, and a captain in the 1st Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment (part of the 1st Infantry Division), in the latter stages of the Battle of Dunkirk, when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

Captain Ervine-Andrews took over about a thousand yards of the defences in front of Dunkirk, his line extending along the Canal de Bergues, and the enemy attacked at dawn.

For over ten hours, notwithstanding intense artillery, mortar, and machine-gun fire, and in the face of vastly superior enemy forces, Captain Ervine-Andrews and his company held their position.

Later, when the house which he held had been shattered by enemy fire and set alight, and all his ammunition had been expended, he sent back his wounded in the remaining carrier.

Throughout this action, Captain Ervine-Andrews displayed courage, tenacity, and devotion to duty, worthy of the highest traditions of the British Army, and his magnificent example imbued his own troops with the dauntless fighting spirit which he himself displayed.Ervine-Andrews attempted to return home to his native County Cavan after the war, but was driven out by local members of the IRA and later settled in Cornwall.

The last surviving Irishman to be awarded the VC for service during the Second World War, Ervine-Andrews died in his home at Gorran, Cornwall on 30 March 1995, at the age of 83.