| Dugdale | Frederic Brooks | Lieutenant | DUGDALE, FREDERIC BROOKS, Lieutenant, was born on 21 October 1877, the third son of Colonel James Dugdale, VD, of Ivy Bank, Lancashire, and of Sezineot, Gloucestershire. He was educated at Marlborough, and Christ Church, Oxford, and entered the Array in October 1899, being gazetted as 2nd Lieutenant to the 5th (Royal Irish) Lancers. He immediately left England to join his regiment, which on his arrival in South Africa was taking part in the Defence of Ladysmith. He served with the relieving force under Sir Redvers Buller, and was promoted Lieutenant in May, 1900. He served under Sir John French in Cape Colony. He won the Victoria Cross, as described in the Gazette, and also received the Queen's and King's Medals with clasps, also clasps for Tugela Heights, Orange Free State, Relief of Ladysmith, Laing's Nek, and Belfast, Cape Colony. He was decorated on 24 October 1902, by His Majesty King Edward VII His Victoria Cross was gazetted 17 September 1901: 'Frederic Brooks Dugdale, Lieutenant, 5th Royal Irish Lancers. On 3 March, 19O1, Lieutenant Dugdale, who was in command of a small outpost near Derby, having been ordered to retire, his patrol came under a heavy fire at a range of about 250 yards, and a sergeant, two men, and a horse were hit. Lieutenant Dugdale dismounted and placed one of the wounded men on his own horse; he then caught another horse, galloped up to a wounded man and took him up behind him, and brought both men safely out of action'. On the 13 November of the same year, whilst hunting with the North Cotswold, his horse fell at a fence and crushed him so severely that he died within two hours, without regaining consciousness.
Source: VC recipients (VC and DSO book) | 5th (Royal Irish) Lancers |
| Durrant | Alfred Edward | Private | DURRANT, EDWARD, Private, served in the South African War of 1899-1902, and was awarded the Victoria Cross [London Gazette, 18 October 1901]: 'E Durrant, Private, 2nd Battalion The Rifle Brigade. Date of Act of Bravery: 27 August 1900. At Bergendal, on the 27th August 1900, Acting-Corporal Wellar, having been wounded and being somewhat dazed, got up from his prone position in the firing line, exposing himself still more to the enemy's fire, and commenced to run towards them. Private Durrant rose, and, pulling him down, endeavoured to keep him quiet, but finding this impossible, he took him up and carried him back for 200 yards under a heavy fire to shelter, returning immediately to his place in the line'. He became Lance-Corporal.
VC, Queen's Sudan, QSA (3) DofL Belf LN, KSA (2), ISM GV, Army LS&GC Ed VII, Khedive Sudan (1) Khartoum. RHQ
Source: VC recipients (VC and DSO book) | (Prince Consort's Own) Rifle Brigade |
| Engleheart | Henry William | Sergeant | ENGLEHEART, H, Sergeant, was born on 14 November 1864, son of Mr Francis Engleheart, formerly a member of the Stock Exchange, and grandson of N B Engleheart, of Blackheath, London, the last of the Queen's Proctors. He joined the 10th (The Prince of Wales's Own) Royal Hussars, and served with his regiment in the South African War of 1899-1902. He was one of the party, under Brevet Major Aylmer Hunter Weston, that successfully destroyed the railway north of Bloemfontein. They had to charge through a Boer piquet, besides getting over four deep spruits, in order to creep back through the Boer lines. At the last of these spruits Sapper Webb's horse fell, and consequently he was left in a very dangerous position. Sergeant Engleheart went back to his assistance, through a deadly storm of shot and shell. He had to lose some time in getting Webb and his horse out of the spruit, and every moment the position became worse, owing to the rapid advance of the Boers. At last he succeeded in getting Webb back to the party. Just before this Sergeant Engleheart had shown great gallantry in dashing into the first spruit, which could only be approached in single file, and was still held by a party of Boers. He was awarded the Victoria Cross, [London Gazette, 5 October 1900]: 'H Engleheart, Sergeant, 10th Hussars'. Sergeant Engleheart was the centre man of the last five of her soldiers to whom Queen Victoria personally presented the Victoria Cross, on 15 December 1900.
VC, QSA (3) RofK Paard Drie, Army LS&GC Ed VII, 1911 Coronation, 1935 Jubilee. RHQ.
Source: VC recipients (VC and DSO book) | 10th (The Prince of Wales's Own Royal) Hussars |
| English | William John | Lieutenant | ENGLISH, WILLIAM JOHN, Lieutenant, was born 6 October 1882, and served in the ranks. He served with the Scottish Horse in South Africa in the Boer War of 1899 to 1902, and was promoted Lieutenant in 1901. He won the Victoria Cross, and also received the Queen's Medal with five clasps. His VC was gazetted 4 October 1901: 'William John English, Lieutenant, 2nd Scottish Horse. This officer, with five men, was holding the right of the position at Vlakfontein, on the 3rd July, 1901, during an attack by the Boers. Two of his men were killed and two wounded, but the position was still held, largely owing to Lieutenant English's personal pluck. When the ammunition ran short he went over to the next party and obtained more; to do this he had to cross some fifteen yards of open ground under a heavy fire at a range of from twenty to thirty yards'.
He became Lieutenant Army Service Corps, 1907, and Captain in 1914.
Source: VC recipients (VC and DSO book) | Scottish Horse |
| Farmer | Donald Dickson | Sergeant | FARMER, DONALD, Sergeant, joined the Cameron Highlanders on the 29th March, 1892, and served with the 1st Battalion in the Sudan Campaign, 1898, and was present at the battles of Atbara and Khartoum (British Medal and Khedive's Medal with two clasps); served with the Mounted Infantry Company of the 1st Battalion throughout the South African War, 1900-2 (twice mentioned in Despatches, Queen's Medal with four claps and King's Medal with two clasps); awarded the Victoria Cross [London Gazette, 12 April 1901]: 'Donald Farmer, Sergeant, 1st Battalion Cameron Highlanders. Date of Act of Bravery: 13 December 1900. During the attack on General Clements' camp at Nooitgedacht, on the 13th December 1900, Lieutenant Sandilands, Cameron Highlanders, with fifteen men, went to the assistance of a picquet which was heavily engaged, most of the men having been killed or wounded. The enemy, who were hidden by trees, opened fire on the party at a range of about twenty yards, killing two and wounding five, including Lieutenant Sandilands. Sergeant Farmer at once went to the officer, who was perfectly helpless, and carried him away under a very heavy and close fire to a place of comparative safety, after which he returned to the firing line, and was eventually taken prisoner'. 'In the first moments of the Boer attack Lieutenant Murdoch was killed. He had previously been wounded at Vredefort, and throughout the campaign had displayed singular courage and devotion to duty. Lieutenant Sandilands was also dangerously wounded. In this helpless condition he was assisted off the field by Sergeant Donald Farmer, who, displaying the greatest bravery under a heavy fire at close range, earned for himself the distinction of being the first Cameron Highlander to win the Victoria Cross”. (Records of the Cameron Highlanders, page 358). 'On the 14th September (1901) the (1st) Battalion (Cameron Highlanders) once more returned to Pretoria. During its absence two officers (Lieutenant A B Robertson and 2nd Lieutenant Lord James Stewart-Murray) and fifty men of the Commander-in-Chief's escort had accompanied Lord Kitchener in his journey to Natal to meet Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of York, who were visiting South Africa. This detachment was present on parade at Pietermaritzburg on 15 August, when the Duke of York presented fifty VC's and DSO's to officers, non-commissioned officers and men who had distinguished themselves during the war. Amongst the recipients of the VC upon this occasion was Sergeant Donald Farmer'. (Records of the Cameron Highlanders, page 366). He became Colour-Sergeant 22 February 1905, and he was promoted to Lieutenant.
Source: VC recipients (VC and DSO book) | (Queen's Own) Cameron Highlanders |
| Firth | James | Sergeant | FIRTH, JAMES, Sergeant, was born 15 January 1874, at Wincobank, Sheffield, son of Charles Firth, steel smelter, of Jarrow-on-Tyne, and Mrs Charles Firth. He was educated at Swalwell, near Newcastle-on-Tyne, and joined the Army 29 July 1889, being promoted to Sergeant, and serving in the South African War of 1899-1902. For his services in this campaign Sergeant Firth received the Queen's Medal with one clasp, and was awarded the Victoria Cross [London Gazette, 11 June, 1901]: 'James Firth, 1st Battalion Duke of Wellington's West Riding Regiment. During the action at Plewman's Farm, near Arundel, Cape Colony, on the 24th February 1900, Lance Corporal Blackman having been wounded and lying exposed to a hot fire at a range of from 400-500 yards, Sergeant Firth picked him up and carried him to cover. Later in the day, when the enemy had advanced to within a short distance of the firing-line, Second Lieutenant Wilson being dangerously wounded and in a most exposed position Sergeant Firth carried him over the crest of the ridge, which was being held by the troops, to shelter, and was himself shot through the nose and eye whilst doing so'. He was at first wrongly gazetted as 'W' Firth. Sergeant Firth married, June 1897, at Emmanuel Church, Attercliffe, Sheffield, Mary Florence, only daughter of Thomas Edwards, of Swineshead, Lincolnshire, and they had two children: Alleyne G Firth, born 25 June 1903 and Cecil J Firth, born 18 December 1907.
Source: VC recipients (VC and DSO book) | (Duke of Wellington's) West Riding Regiment |
| Fitzclarence | Charles | Captain | FITZCLARENCE, CHARLES, Captain, was the grandson of George, 1st Earl of Munster, eldest son of King William IV. His father was the Honourable George Fitzclarence, Captain, Royal Navy, and his mother was Lady Maria Henrietta, nee Scott, eldest daughter of the 4th Earl of Clonrnel. Captain George Fitzclarence was one of four brothers who served either in the Navy or Army, the youngest dying of wounds received in the attack on the Redan in the Crimean Var. A twin brother of Brigadier-General Charles Fitzclarence's, Edward, served in the Egyptian Army, and was killed at Abu Hamed in 1897. Charles Fitzclarence was born on 8 May, 1865, at Bishopscourt, County Kildare, and was educated at Eton and Wellington. He was gazetted Lieutenant from the Militia into the Royal Fusiliers 10 November 1886. During Kitchener's Khartoum Campaign he was Adjutant of the Mounted Infantry in Egypt. But to his grievous disappointment, when the other troops went up the Nile, the Mounted Infantry was left behind. He was promoted to Captain in the Royal Fusiliers 6 April, 1898, and, on the formation of the Irish Guards, was transferred to that regiment 6 October 1900. Captain Fitzclarence went to South Africa on special service in July, 1899, and was present throughout the siege of Mafeking, when his gallantry and daring gained for him the sobriquet of ‘The Demon'. He was awarded the Victoria Cross [London Gazette, 6 July, 1900, having been recommended three times for it: 'Charles Fitzclarence, Captain, The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment). Dates for Acts of Bravery: 14 October 1899, and 27 October 1899. On the 14th October 1899, Captain Fitzclarence went with his squadron of the Protectorate Regiment , consisting of only partially trained men, who had never been in action, to the assistance of an armoured train which had gone out from Mafeking. The enemy were in greatly superior numbers, and the squadron was for a time surrounded, and it looked as if nothing could save them from being shot down. Captain Fitzclarence, however, by his personal coolness and courage, inspired the greatest confidence in his men, and by his bold and efficient handling of them, not only succeeded in relieving the armoured train, but inflicted a heavy defeat on the Boers, who lost fifty killed and a large number of wounded; his own losses being two killed and fifteen wounded. The moral effect of this blow had a very important bearing on subsequent encounters with the Boers. On the 27th October 1899, Captain Fitzclarence led his squadron from Mafeking across the open, and made a night attack with the bayonet on one of the enemy's trenches. A hand-to-hand fight took place in the trench, while a heavy fire was concentrated on it from the rear. The enemy was driven out with heavy loss. Captain Fitzclarence was the first man into the position, and accounted for four of the enemy with his sword. The British lost six killed and nine wounded. Captain Fitzclarence was himself slightly wounded. With reference to these two actions Major-General Baden-Powell states that had this officer not shown an extraordinary spirit and fearlessness, the attacks would have been failures, and we should have suffered heavy loss both in men and prestige. On the 26th December 1899, during the action of Game Tree, near Mafeking, Capt, Fitzclarence again distinguished himself by his coolness and courage, and was again wounded severely through the leg'. From August 1900, to February 1901, Captain Fitzclarence was Brigade Major in South Africa. He was mentioned in Despatches [London Gazette, 8 February 1901], for his services in the South African Campaign, and besides the Victoria Cross, with the dates 14 and 27 October 1899, was given the Brevet of Major 29 November 1900, and received the Queen's Medal with three clasps. From April, 1903, to March, 1906, he was Brigade Major of the 5th Brigade at Aldershot. He became Major in May, 1904, and succeeded to the command of the 1st Battalion Irish Guards in July, 1909. In 1913 he was appointed to the command of the regiment and regimental district, and this post he held until the outbreak of the European War, when he took over command of the 29th Brigade, 10th Division, at the Curragh, until 22 September. On the 27th September he took command of the 1st Guards' Brigade with the Expeditionary Force in France, and he held this command until his death on 11 November, when he was killed in action leading the 1st Guards' Brigade against the Prussian Guard. The 1st Guards' Brigade consisted of the 1st Battalion of the Coldstream Guards, the 1st Battalion Scots Guards, a battalion of the Black Watch, and a battalion of Cameron Highlanders. 'Not long after Fitzclarence's arrival in France”' says Captain Valentine Williams, MC, writing under the pseudonym of ‘X' in ‘Blackwood's Magazine', the British Expeditionary Force did its great swing round to the north, the 1st Corps detraining at St Omer, and on 20 October raking over the line north of Ypres from Bixschoote to Zonnebeke to support the weakened Belgian Army against the great northern attack which was known to be impending. Two days later the enemy attacked heavily at Pilkem, where the 1st Guards' Brigade was in position, and drove in the front of the Camerons; but a brilliant counter-attack by the 2nd Brigade the next day restored the line. On the night of the 23rd the French relieved the 1st Division, which went back to Ypres in reserve, but on the 25th was sent up again to take over a line from Reutel to the Menin Road. The Coldstream and Scots Guards' battalions of Fitzclarence's brigade, in trenches north of Gheluvelt, suffered terribly in a German attack, delivered in a dense mist on the morning of the 27th along the Menin road. The odds against the British were crushing, for on that day some 24,000 Germans were arrayed against about 5,000 exhausted British troops. In two days the Scots Guards lost 10 officers and 370 men killed and wounded. But the result of the day's fighting was that the British line stood firm and unbroken, while the Germans had sustained enormous losses'. On the 31st October 1914, the Germans had broken the line of the 1st Division and taken the village of Gheluvelt. Sir John French, in his Despatch published on the 30th November 1914, described the fighting at this time: 'Perhaps',he said, 'the most important and decisive attack (except that of the Prussian Guard on the 10th November) made against the 1st Corps during the whole of its arduous experiences in the neighbourhood of Ypres took place on the 31st October. After several attacks and counterattacks during the course of the morning along the Menin-Ypres Road, south-east of Gheluvelt, an attack against that place developed in great force, and the line of the 1st Division was broken. Meantime, on the Menin Road, a counter-attack delivered by the left of the 1st Division against the right flank of the German line was completely successful, and the 2nd Worcester Regiment was to the fore in this. I was present with Sir Douglas Haig, at Hooge, between two and three o'clock on this day, when the 1st Division was retiring. I regard it as the most critical moment in the whole of this great battle. The rally of the 1st Division and the recapture of the village of Gheluvelt at such a time was fraught with momentous consequences. If any one unit can be singled out for special praise it is the Worcesters'. Sir John French made a speech to the Worcesters on the 26th November 1914, which appeared in the ‘Times' of the 14th December 1914. In it he praised the Worcesters for what they had done on the 31st October, and he further said: 'I have made repeated inquiries as to what officer was responsible for the conduct of this counter-attack on the 31st October, but have never so far been able to find out'. It has since been made known and officially confirmed that it was Brigadier-General C Fitzclarence who gave the order for the counter-attack. Later on, in a letter, Sir John French said: 'During the first battle of Ypres, at the crisis of the fight on the 31st October, the situation was saved by the Worcesters. For many weeks and m | Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) |
| Glasock | Horace Henry | Private | GLASOCK, HORACE HENRY, Driver, served in the South African Campaign of 1899-1002, and was awarded the Victoria Cross [London Gazette, 20 June, 1900]: 'Horace Henry Glasock, Driver, Q Battery, Royal Horse Artillery. Date of Act of Bravery: 31 March, 1300. On the occasion of the action at Korn Spruit on the 31st March, 1900, a British force, including two batteries of the Royal Horse Artillery, was retiring from Thabanchu towards Bloemfontein. The enemy had formed an ambush at Korn Spruit, and before their presence was discovered by the main body had captured the greater portion of the baggage column and five out of the six guns of the leading battery. When the alarm was given, Q Battery, Royal Horse Artillery, was within three hundred yards of the spruit. Major Phipps-Hornby, who commanded it, at once wheeled about, and moved off at a gallop under a very heavy fire. One gun was upset when the wheel horse was shot, and had to be abandoned, with another waggon, the horses of which were killed. The remainder of the battery reached a position close to some unfinished railway buildings, and came into action 1,150 yards from the spruit, remaining in action until ordered to retire. When the order to retire was received, Major Phipps-Hornby ordered the guns and their limbers to be run back by hand to where the team of uninjured horses stood behind the unfinished buildings. The few remaining gunners, assisted by a number of officers and men of a party of mounted infantry, and directed by Major Phipps-Hornby and Captain Humphreys, the only remaining officers of the battery, succeeded in running back four of the guns under shelter. One or two of the limbers were similarly withdrawn by hand, but the work was most severe and the distance considerable. In consequence all concerned were so exhausted that they were unable to drag in the remaining limbers or the fifth gun. It now became necessary to risk the horses, and volunteers were called for from among the drivers, who readily responded. Several horses were killed and men wounded, but at length only one gun and one limber were left exposed. Four separate attempts were made to rescue these, but when no more horses were available, the attempt had to be given up and the gun and limber were abandoned. Meanwhile the other guns had been sent on one at a time, and after passing within seven or eight hundred yards of the enemy, in rounding the head of a donga and crossing two spruits, they eventually reached a place of safety, where the battery was reformed. After full consideration of the circumstances of the case, the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief in South Africa formed the opinion that the conduct of all ranks of Q Battery, Royal Horse Artillery, was conspicuously gallant and daring, but that all were equally devoted in their behaviour. He therefore decided to treat the case of the battery as one of collective gallantry, under Rule 13 of the Victoria Cross Warrant, and directed that one officer should be selected for the decoration of the Victoria Cross by the officers, one non-commissioned officer by the non-commissioned officers, and two gunners or drivers by the gunners and drivers. A difficulty arose with regard to the officer, owing to the fact that there were only two unwounded officers—Major Phipps-Hornby and Captain Humphreys—available for the work of saving the guns, and both of these had been conspicuous by their gallantry and by the fearless manner in which they exposed themselves, and each of them nominated the other for the decoration. It was ultimately decided in favour of Major Phipps-Hornby as having been the senior concerned. Charles Parker, Sergeant, was elected by the non-commissioned officers as described above. Isaac Lodge, Gunner, and Horace Henry Glasock, Driver, were elected by the gunners and drivers as described above'. Glasock's name was at first spelt “Glassock”. This was corrected in the London Gazette, 6 July, 1900. 'Memorandum, 6 July, 1900 — The name of Driver Horace Harry Glasoek, Q Battery, Royal Horse Artillery, the grant to whom of the Victoria Cross was notified in the London Gazette of the 26th June, 1900, is as now, and not as therein stated'. He was discharged from the Royal Horse Artillery 25 January 1911.
Source: VC recipients (VC and DSO book) | Q Battery, RHA |
| Gordon | William Eagleson | Captain | He was born on 4 May, 1866, son of W E Gordon, MD, of Homehill, Bridge-of-Allan, Stirlingshire, and joined the 1st Gordon Highlanders, then in Malta, as Second Lieutenant from the Militia, 6 June, 1888, and became Lieutenant 1 September 1891. His first active service was with the Chitral Relief Expedition in 1895, when he was present at the storming of the Malakand Pass, etc. He received the Frontier Medal and clasp. Lieutenant Gordon was promoted to Captain 19 June, 1897. He took part in the operations on the North-West Frontier of India, 1897-8, with the Tirah Expeditionary Force, and received a clasp to the Indian Frontier Medal. From 21 January 1899 to 20 January 1903, Captain Gordon was Adjutant to the 1st Battalion Gordon Highlanders, and as such he served throughout the South African War of 1899-1902. He took part in the advance on Kimberley, including the action at Magersfontein (dangerously wounded); operations in the Orange Free State, February to May, 1900, including operations at Paardeberg, 17 to 21 February 1903 (slightly wounded); actions at Poplar Grove, Driefontein, Houtnek (Thoba mount), Vet River (5 and 6 May), and Zand River; operations in the Transvaal in May and June, 1900, including actions near Johannesburg and Pretoria; operations in the Tranvsaal east of Pretoria, July to 29th November 1900, including actions at Belfast (26 and 27 August), and Lydenberg (5 to 8 September); operations in the Transvaal west of Pretoria, July to 29 November 1900; operations in Cape Colony south of Orange River 1899-1900; operations in Cape Colony north of Orange River; operations in the Transvaal 30 November 1900 to 31 May, 1902. Three times mentioned in Despatches; Queen's Medal with five clasps; King's Medal with two clasps; Brevet of Lieutenant Colonel on attaining rank of Major.
He was awarded the Victoria Cross [London Gazette, 28 September 1900]: 'William Eagleson Gordon, Captain, Gordon Highlanders. Date of Act of Bravery: 11 July 1900. On the 11th July, 1903, during the action near Leehoehoek (or Doornboschfontein, near Krugersdorf), a party of men, accompanied by Captains Younger and Allan, having succeeded in dragging an artillery waggon under cover when its horses were unable to do so by reason of the heavy and accurate fire of the enemy, Captain Gordon called for volunteers to go out with him to try and bring in one of the guns. He went out alone to the nearest gun under a heavy fire, and with the greatest coolness fastened the drag-rope to the gun, and then beckoned to the men, who immediately doubled out, to join him, in accordance with his previous instructions. While moving the gun Captain Younger and three men were hit. Seeing that further attempts would only result in further casualties, Captain Gordon ordered the remainder of the party under cover of the kopje again, and, having seen the wounded safely away, himself retired. Captain Gordon's conduct under a particularly heavy and most accurate fire at only 603 yards' range was most admirable, and his manner of handling his men most masterly; his devotion on every occasion that his battalion has been under fire has been remarkable'. Captain Gordon was presented with his Victoria Cross by Lord Kitchener at Pretoria, on Peace Thanksgiving Day, June, 1902.
He was Staff Captain, Highland Grouped Regimental District, 6 June 1905, to 31 March 1908; was promoted to Major on 1 January 1907, and gazetted Brevet Lieutenant Colonel 2 January 1907. From April, 1903 to 5 June, 1903, he was DAA and QMG, Highland Division, Scottish Command, and on 9 October 1913, he was appointed ADC to the King, with Brevet of Colonel. Colonel Gordon served in the European War from 1914; he was taken prisoner, and was released by exchange, unconditionally, in 1916. From 15 September 1917, he commanded No 1 (Midland) District, Scottish Command.
Source: VC recipients (VC and DSO book) | Gordon Highlanders |
| Hampton | Harry | Sergeant | He was born at Crown Terrace, Richmond Surrey, on 14 December 1870, son of Mr Samuel Hampton. He entered the 1st Battalion The King's Liverpool Regiment at Aldershot 10 March, 1889, and became Corporal exactly two years later/ He served in the West Indies, and also in Nova Scotia, between 1891 and 1897, in South Africa in 1897, and throughout the Boer War of 1899-1902, almost to its close, with the 1st Mounted Infantry Company of his regiment, the King's Liverpool Regiment. He was present at the Siege of Ladysmith, when his regiment acted on the 6th January 1900, as support to the defenders of Wagon Hill, and were under a very heavy shell and rifle fire the whole day. After the siege, as part of the 4th Division Mounted Infantry, they took part in the advance through Natal and the Eastern Transvaal, and were almost continuously engaged with the enemy. On the 21st August 1900, at Van Wyk's Vlei, the unit was opposed by a very superior force of Boers, and a portion of it was only able to withdraw from the position it had taken up through the cool and gallant conduct of Sergeant Hampton and Corporal H J Knight. Sergeant H Hampton was in command of a small detached party of Mounted Infantry, and when he saw the men being driven back by the superior force of the Boers, held on to his position—a most important one—for some considerable time, in the face of large numbers of the enemy. When he found that his position was untenable he was compelled to retire, and the withdrawal was carried out in a most skilful manner. He saw all his men into safety and—although himself wounded in the head — supported Lance Corporal Walsh (who was badly wounded and unable to walk) until the latter was again hit by a bullet and killed. Sergeant Hampton was again wounded shortly afterwards. For these services Sergeant Hampton was awarded the Victoria Cross, as related in the London Gazette, and was decorated by King Edward VII at St James's Palace. His Victoria Cross was gazetted 18 October 1901: 'Harry Hampton, Sergeant, 2nd Battalion The King's (Liverpool) Regiment. On the 21st August 1900, at Van Wyk's Vlei, Sergeant Hampton, who was in command of a small party of Mounted Infantry, held an important position for some time against heavy odds, and when compelled to retire saw all his men into safety, and then, although he had himself been wounded in the head, supported Lance Corporal Walsh, who was unable to walk, until the latter was again hit and apparently killed, Sergeant Hampton himself being again wounded some time after'. He became Colour-Sergeant; was Sergeant Instructor in Musketry, and was discharged on pension. His was one of three Victoria Crosses won by his regiment in as many days.
Source: VC recipients (VC and DSO book) | (King's) Liverpool Regiment |
| Hardham | William James | Farrier Major | He was born 31 July 1876, at Wellington, New Zealand, son of George Hardham (of Surrey, England) and of Ann Hardham (of Sussex, England). He joined the Cadets in 1891, and the Volunteers in 1894, serving with the New Zealand Contingent in the South African War, 1900-1902, taking part in the operations in the Transvaal, west of Pretoria, August to 29 November 1900; and in the operations in the Transvaal, 30 November 1900 to May 1901, and May 1902. He was mentioned in Despatches [London Gazette, 4 October 1901], and was awarded the Victoria Cross [London Gazette, 4 October 1901]: 'W J Hardham, Farrier-Major, 4th New Zealand Contingent. On the 28th January 1901, near Naauwpoort, this noncommissioned officer was with a section which was extended and hotly engaged with a party of about twenty Boers. Just before the force commenced to retire Trooper McCrae was wounded and his horse killed. Farrier Major Hardham at once went under a heavy fire to his assistance, dismounted, and placed him on his own horse, and ran alongside until he had guided him to a place of safety'. He was decorated with the Victoria Cross by HM King Edward VII, in London, on 1 July 1902, and also received the Queen's Medal with five clasps, and King Edward's Coronation Medal.
Captain Hardham served with the New Zealand Mounted Rifles in Gallipoli, and was wounded 30 May, 1915. He later became Military Commandant of the Queen Mary Hospital for Sick and Wounded Returned Soldiers, at Hanmer Springs, New Zealand. At Rugby Football he represented Wellington Province from 1897 to 1910 (except three years' absence in South Africa on service); on many occasions as captain. He also played against the All England Team (Harding's) in 1904. He plays cricket, tennis, etc. He married, 11 March 1916, at Wellington, New Zealand, Constance Evelyn Parsonstown, daughter of John and Elizabeth Parsonstown, of Doncaster, England.
Source: VC recipients (VC and DSO book) | New Zealand, 4th Contingent |
| Heaton | William Edward | Private | He won his Victoria Cross at the action of Geluk [London Gazette, 18 January 1901]: 'William Heaton, Private, 1st Battalion 8th (The King's Liverpool) Regiment. On the 23rd August 1900, the company to which Private Heaton belonged, advancing in front of the general line held by the troops, became surrounded by the enemy and was suffering severely. At the request of the officer commanding, Private Heaton volunteered to take a message back to explain the position of the company. He was successful, though at the imminent risk of his own life. Had it not been for Private Heaton's courage, there can be little doubt that the remainder of the company, which suffered very severely, would have had to surrender'. He was later promoted Sergeant.
Source: VC recipients (VC and DSO book) | (King's) Liverpool Regiment |
| Holland | Edward James Gibson | Sergeant | He served in the Boer War of 1899-1902, and was awarded the Victoria Cross [London Gazette, 23 April, 1901]: 'E Holland, Sergeant, Royal Canadian Dragoons. Date of Act of Bravery: 7 November 1900. Sergeant Holland did splendid work with his Colt-gun, and kept the Boers off the two 12—pounders by its fire at close range. When he saw the enemy were too near for him to escape with the carriage, as the horse was blown, he calmly lifted the gun off and galloped away with it under his arm'. He became Major, 13th Canadian Dragoons, Canadian Military Forces.
Source: VC recipients (VC and DSO book) | Canada, 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles |
| House | William | Private | He was born on 7 October 1879, at Park Lane, Thatcham, Berkshire, the son of Mr Thomas House, of that place. He entered into the Royal Berkshire Regiment on 3 November 1896. His Victoria Cross was gazetted on his twenty-third birthday, 7 October 1902, and he was decorated by King Edward VII on 24 October 1902, in London. He also received both the Queen's and King's Medals, with clasps. [London Gazette, 7 October 1902]: 'William House, Private, 2nd Battalion The Royal Berkshire Regiment. Date of Act of Bravery: 2 August 1900. During the attack on Mosilikatse Nek, on the 2nd August 1900, when a sergeant, who had gone forward to reconnoitre, was wounded, Private House rushed out from cover (though cautioned not to do so, as the fire from the enemy was very hot), picked up the wounded sergeant, and endeavoured to bring him into shelter, in doing which Private House was himself severely wounded. He, however, warned his comrades not to come to his assistance, the fire being so severe. The grant of the Medal for Distinguished Conduct in the Field to Private House, which was notified in the London Gazette of the 27th September 1901, is hereby cancelled'.
He died by his own hand at Dover, when apparently cleaning his rifle, 28 February 1912, shooting himself through the head, in which he had been already twice wounded at the time when he won the Victoria Cross.
Source: VC recipients (VC and DSO book) | (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Royal Berkshire Re |
| Howse | Neville Reginald | Captain | He was born at Stogursey, Somerset, on 26 October 1863, the second surviving son of Alfred Howse, MECS (England), and of Lucy Elizabeth, daughter of John Hugh Claudius Beresford Conroy, of Rosevale, Raheny. He was educated at Fulland's School, Taunton; entered the London Hospital as a student in 1882, and took his diploma of MRCS (England) and LRCP (London) in 1886. He went to Australia in 1889, and practised at Taree, Manning River, until 1895, when he returned to England, devoting himself to surgery for a period of four years. He obtained his FRCS (England) in 1897. In 1899 he returned to Australia and settled at Orange, New South Wales. After a few months he went to South Africa as Lieutenant in New South Wales Army Medical Corps; promoted Captain; mentioned in Despatches 4 June, 1901; received Queen's Medal with six clasps, and King's Medal with two clasps, and was awarded the Victoria Cross [London Gazette, 4 June, 1900]: 'Neville Reginald Howse, Captain, New South Wales Medical Staff Corps. During the action at Vredefort on the 24th July, 1900, Captain Howse went out under a very heavy cross-fire, and picked up a wounded man and carried him to a place of shelter. He was invalided to Australia, and in 1902 returned to South Africa as Major in Command of the 1st Australian Commonwealth Bearer Company.
After the war he returned to Orange, and in 1905 married Evelyn, eldest daughter of C de Vial Pilcher, of Newstead, Orange, and has two sons and three daughters: Everil Marjorie; Neville Charles, born in 1909; Evelyn Elizabeth; John Brooke, born in 1913; Alison Neville. When war broke out in 1914 he was promoted Lieutenant Colonel; appointed RMO of Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force, embarking at Sydney on 10 August for Rabaul. He returned from Rabaul in October 1914, and sailed with the first Expeditionary Force. Appointed ADMS 28 December 1914, and promoted Colonel. Landed in Gallipoli on 25 April, 1915; appointed DDMS, ANZAC, on 11 September 1915; mentioned in Despatches; created a CB 5 August 1915. After evacuation proceeded to Egypt; promoted Surgeon-General in December 1915, and appointed to DMS, AIF. After organizing the AAMC in Egypt, he was attached to Headquarters, AIF, London. He became a KCB in January 1917, and KCMG in June, 1919.
Source: VC recipients (VC and DSO book) | New South Wales, Bearer Company |
| Ind | Alfred Ernest | Shoeing Smith | He was the son of Mr George Ind, of Tetbury, Gloucestershire, where he was born on 16 September 1872. He entered the Royal Horse Artillery on 19 February 1901; served in the South African War of 1899-1901, and was awarded the Victoria Cross [London Gazette, 15 August 1902]: 'Alfred Ernest Ind, Shoeing Smith, Royal Horse Artillery, 11th Section Pompoms. Date of Act of Bravery: 20 December 1901. During the action near Tafelkop, Orange River Colony, on the 20th December 1901, Shoeing Smith A E Ind, 11th Section Pompoms, stuck to his gun under a very heavy fire, when the whole of the remainder of the pompom team had been shot down, and continued to fire into the advancing Boers till the last possible moment. Captain Jeffcoat, who was mortally wounded on this occasion, requested that Shoeing Smith Ind's gallant conduct in this, and in every other action since he joined the Pompom Section should be brought to notice'. He was mentioned in Despatches and promoted Corporal after Tafelkop, and was once wounded and mentioned in Despatches on three other occasions. Corporal Shoeing Smith Ind was decorated with the Victoria Cross by King Edward VII at Buckingham Palace on 20 November 1902. He was later a member of the celebrated battery known as the 'Chestnut Troop'. He died on 29 November 1916 at Eccleston.
Source: VC recipients (VC and DSO book) | Royal Horse Artillery |
| Inkson | Edgar Thomas | Lieutenant | Born 5 April, 1872, at Naini Tal, India, the son of Surgeon General J Inkson, Army Medical Service (Battle of Baltic, Indian Mutiny and Afghan Medals; died September 1898), and of Mrs Inkson, of Eastbourne. He was educated at Edinburgh Collegiate School, and received his medical education at University College Hospital, London. He was MRCS (England) and LRCP (London), and joined the Army in April 1899, as Surgeon on probation; was gazetted Surgeon Lieutenant 28 July, 899, just ten weeks before the Boer War of 1899-1902, and proceeded to South Africa, as Medical Officer in Charge of the 7th, 14th and 66th Batteries RFA in October 1899. He was present with these batteries at Colenso on 15 December 1899, when ten guns were lost. Shortly afterwards Surgeon Lieutenant Inkson was trans ferred as Medical Officer in Charge to the 27th Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (Hart's Brigade), and served with this regiment at Vaalkrantz, Spion Kop, Pieter's Hill, and at the relief of Ladysmith. He rejoined the Artillery (28th, 78th and 66th Batteries) in April, 1900, when the brigade was with Hunter's Division at the battle of Roidam 5 May 1900, and then with Ian Hamilton's Column. He rejoined the Inniskilling Fusiliers in April, 1901, and was with this regiment for about a year, part of the time with Allenby's Column. He was mentioned in Despatches three times, received the Queen's Medal with five clasps and the King's Medal with two clasps, and was awarded the Victoria Cross [London Gazette, 15 January 1901]: 'Edgar Thomas Inkson, Lieutenant, Royal Army Medical Corps. On the 24th February 1900, Lieutenant Inkson carried 2nd Lieutenant Devenish (who was severely wounded and unable to walk) for three or four hundred yards, under a very heavy fire, to a place of safety. The ground over which Lieutenant Inkson had to move was much exposed, there being no cover available'.
In the Great War Lieutenant Colonel Inkson commanded No 2 Field Ambulance, 1st Division, from January 1915 to November 1916, and was present with that unit in all the operations in which the division took part during the above period. He was mentioned in Despatches twice, awarded the Distinguished Service Order [London Gazette, 1 January 1917]: 'Edgar Thomas Inkson, Lieutenant Colonel, RAMC'. He was promoted Lieutenant Colonel 1 March, 1915, and in January 1917, assumed command of No 1 General Hospital, which post he held till July, 1917, and in August 1917, he was given command of No 4 Stationary Hospital. He died 19 February 1947 at Chichester Hospital, West Sussex and was buried in Brookwood Cemetery. His VC is in the Army Medical Services Museum.
Source: VC recipients (VC and DSO book) | Royal Army Medical Corps |
| Johnston | Robert | Captain | JOHNSTON, ROBERT, Captain, was born 13 August 1872, son of Robert Johnston, QC, of Laputa, County Donegal. He was educated at King William's College, Isle of Man, and joined the 5th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 1890-94. He served in South Africa 1899-1901, and was dangerously wounded in the Siege of Ladysmith. He won the Victoria Cross at Elandslaagte, and also received the Queen's Medal and bars and King's Medal for his services in this campaign. The Imperial Light Horse was recruited mostly from men from the gold mines of the Hand, and was commanded by Colonel Chisholm and Majors Karri Davis and Sampson, the last two being well known in connection with the Jameson Raid. His Victoria Cross was gazetted 12 February 1901: 'Robert Johnston, Captain, Imperial Light Horse. On the 21st October 1899, at Elandslaagte, at a most critical moment, the advance being momentarily checked by a very severe fire at point-blank range, these two officers very gallantly rushed forward under this heavy fire and rallied the men, thus enabling the flanking movement which decided the day to be carried out. On this occasion Captain Mullins was wounded'. In 1902 he was Commandant at a concentration camp at Middelburg. In 1903 he was District Commissioner on the Eastern Transvaal. In 1911 he joined the Irish Prison Service. He was Commandant of the Prisoners of War at Oldcastle 1914-15, and was appointed Governor of His Majesty's Convict Prison at Maryborough in 1915, but again seconded for prison service in 1916 to resume duty at Oldcastle. Appointed a Resident Magistrate, Ireland, 1918. Major Johnston was in the Irish Rugby XV in 1893, and in the English Rugby XV in South Africa in 1897. He was very fond of fishing and golf. VC, QSA (2) Eland DofL, KSA (2), 1914-15 Star, BWM, VM, 1911 Coronation Medal, 1937 Coronation Medal.
Source: VC recipients (VC and DSO book) | Imperial Light Horse |
| Kennedy | Charles Thomas | Private | He served in the Boer War, 1899-1902, and was awarded the Victoria Cross [London Gazette, 18 October 1901]: 'C Kennedy, Private, 2nd Battalion Highland Light Infantry. At Dewetsdorp, on the 22nd November 1900, Private Kennedy carried a comrade, who was dangerously wounded and bleeding to death, from Gibraltar Hill to the hospital, a distance of three-quarters of a mile, under a very hot fire. On the following day, volunteers having been called for to take a message to the Commandant across a space over which it was almost certain death to venture, Private Kennedy at once stepped forward. He did not, however, succeed in delivering the message, as he was severely wounded before he had gone twenty yards'.
He was killed in Edinburgh, 24 April, 1907. A horse attached to a contractor's cart had bolted in Leith Walk, and in making a plucky attempt to stop it, he was knocked down, and the wheels passed over him. He was so seriously injured that he died on his way to the Royal Infirmary.
Source: VC recipients (VC and DSO book) | Highland Light Infantry |
| Kirby | Frank Howard | Corporal | He was born at Thame, Oxfordshire, on 12 November 1871, the son of Mr William Henry Kirby, of that town, and Ada Kirby. He was educated at Alleyn's School, Dulwich, and entered the Royal Engineers at St George's Barracks, London, on 8 August 1892, and proceeded to South Africa with Field Troops, Royal Engineers, on mobilization in 1899. He served in the South African War of 1899-1902, and gained the Distinguished Conduct Medal for blowing up the Bloemfontein Railway, at action of Bloemfontein, in March 1900. He won his Victoria Cross in a raid north of Kronstadt with General Hunter Weston. He was mentioned several times in Despatches, and in July, 1900, was promoted Troop Sergeant Major (from Corporal), on the field, by Lord Roberts. Sergeant Major Kirby was decorated with the Victoria Cross by His Royal Highness the Duke of Cornwall and York at Cape Town on 19 August 1901. His Victoria Cross was gazetted 8 October 1900: 'Frank Howard Kirby, Corporal, Royal Engineers. On the morning of the 2nd June, 1900, a party sent to try to cut the Delagoa Bay Railway were retiring, hotly pressed by very superior numbers. During one of the successive retirements of the rearguard, a man whose horse had been shot was seen running after his comrades. He was a long way behind the rest of his troop, and was under a brisk fire. From among the retiring troops Corporal Kirby turned and rode back to the man's assistance. Although by the time he reached him they were under a heavy fire at close range, Corporal Kirby managed to get the dismounted man up behind him and to take him clear off over the next rise held by our rearguard. This is the third occasion on which Corporal Kirby has displayed gallantry in the face of the enemy'.
In December 1906, he became a warrant officer. In 1909 he married Miss Kate Jolly, and they had two sons and two daughters. In April, 1911, he was commissioned from the ranks. Lieutenant and Quartermaster F H Kirby was posted to the Air Battalion, Royal Engineers, at Farnborough, and in 1912 was gazetted to the Royal Flying Corps, in which he became a Squadron Commander. He served in the European War in France in 1916 and 1917, and was given his Captaincy for services in the field, 1 January 1917. He became temporary Lieutenant Colonel.
Source: VC recipients (VC and DSO book) | Royal Engineers |
|
|
