Sergeant Daniel Cambridge
Daniel Cambridge VC 27th of March 1820 – 4th of June 1882. Born in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, on the 27th of June 1820. He was 35 years old and a Bombardier in the Royal Regiment of Artillery. On the 8th of September 1855 at Sebastopol, Crimea, Cambridge volunteered for the spiking party on the assault on the Redan. He remained with the party after being severely wounded twice, but had refused to leave until the general retirement was ordered, and even then he repeatedly went back into the open to carry wounded men to safety. In the latter part of the day, he sprang forward to bring in another wounded man. While carrying the helpless infantryman to the safety of the trench Daniel was seen to stagger. Subsequently Daniel was found to have been shot a third time, in his right jaw, and, incapacitated, he took no further part in the action.
Attesting in Lisburn, Co. Antrim, on the 20th June 1839 he gave his occupation as labourer and he is recorded as being 5 feet 8 inches tall with a fresh complexion, dark grey eyes and brown hair. He enlisted four days later as a Driver and Gunner in the 4th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Artillery, on the 24th of June 1839. He served with the 2nd Company, 4th Battalion, in Malta (1841–1847) and was then posted to Canada with the 7th Battalion in 1848. On the 28th of August 1849 he married Ann Bigham in Notre-Dame de Québec, Quebec, Canada. On the 21st of November 1853 Cambridge's posting to Canada came to an end and he and Ann, now expecting their first child, found themselves on the way to England and the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich.
He briefly reverted to the 4th Battalion in Woolwich, Kent, before transferring to the 8th Company, 11thBattalion the following month. In June he embarked with his regiment for the Crimea, passing through Scutari and Varna and disembarked on the Crimean Peninsula with the siege train on the 19th September 1854. On the 8th of October 1854 the besiegement of Sebastopol by sea and land began and on the 17th of October Sebastopol was bombarded by 126 British and French guns. Cambridge took part in the defeat of the Russians at Inkerman on 5 November and then returned to Sebastopol.
On the 3rd of April 1855, Gunner and Driver Daniel Cambridge was promoted to Bombardier. On the 8thof September he accepted Captain Davis' invitation to join the spiking party for the British assault on the Redan. As the Artillerymen's spiking party were unable to spike the Russian guns the Gunners helped and carried as many of the wounded infantrymen to safety as they could. The despatches relating to the incident record him as being severely wounded. He returned with his regiment to Woolwich in March and on the 30th of March. On the 21st of April 1856 he was promoted Sergeant with 7th Company, 11th Battalion.
Private Patrick Carlin
Private Carlin was part of Lord Mark Kerr's force of 500 that went to the aid of a British column besieged at Azimgurh during the Indian Mutiny. The battle, referred to as the Jingar Relief of Azimgurh took place on 6 April 1858 and was fought against rebel leader Koer Singh and a force of sepoy mutineers. Kerr's men defeated part of the enemy force but they were not strong enough in numbers to lift the siege conducted by the 10,000 strong rebel army. Two men from the Somerset Light Infantry won the Victoria Cross that day; Sergeant Napier and Private Carlin. Carlin rescued a wounded naik of the 4th Madras Rifles. While he was carrying the man off the battlefield on his shoulders he was fired on by a mutineer. Using the naik's sword he managed to kill the rebel and bring the wounded man to safety.
Patrick Carlin was born in Belfast in 1832. He continued to live there after leaving the army. He died 'of exhaustion' in Belfast on 11 May 1895. His medal, gazetted on 26 Oct 1858, is in the regimental museum, Taunton.
Private James Bell Crichton
James Bell Crichton (1879-1961) was born in Carrickfergus Northern Ireland and served in the British Army before emigrating to New Zealand. When the First World War broke out, he enlisted in the 1st New Zealand Expeditionary Force and served in Gallipoli and then France. In April 1918, while serving as a Warrant Officer with the 1st New Zealand Field Bakery, he voluntarily relinquished his rank and transferred as a Private in the 2ndAuckland Infantry Regiment. Crichton was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions on the 30th of September 1918 at Crèvecoeur in France during the Allied advance. Crichton had been wounded in the foot but when his platoon was forced back by a counter attack he carried a message by swimming a river and crossing an area swept by machine-gun fire. Later, under enemy fire, he removed explosive charges from a bridge, saving it from destruction.
Sergeant Bernard Diamond VC
Sergeant Bernard Diamond VC (January 1827 – 25 January 1892) born in Portglenone, County Antrim. Indian Mutiny Victoria Cross Recipient. He received the award for his actions at Boolundshur, India on September 28, 1857 during the Indian Rebellion. Born in Portglenone, County Antrim, Ireland, he served as a sergeant in the Bengal Horse Artillery of the British Bengal Army. During his military career, he also received the Punjab Medal, the Indian War Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal. He later emigrated to New Zealand and died in Masterton, Wellington Region, New Zealand at the age of 65.
Private Charles McCorrie (McCurry)
Charles McCorrie (or McCurry) VC born in Killead, County Antrim 1830 died 8th of April 1857 in Malta. He was approx. 25 years old, and a Private in the 57th Regiment later Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own), British Army, when he won the VC. On the 23rd of June 1855 at Sebastopol, in the Crimea, Private McCorrie threw over the parapet a live shell which had been thrown from the enemy's battery. Medal entitlement, Victoria Cross, Crimea Medal (1854-56 ) 2 clasps "Inkermann" - "Sebastopol" and the Turkish Crimea Medal ( 1855-56 ). He is buried in Malta, a new headstone was erected in 2012.
Leading Seaman James Joseph Magennis VC
Leading Seaman Magennis (left) with Lieutenant Fraser, who was also awarded the VC in the same action.
Leading Seaman James Joseph Magennis VC (originally McGinnes), born on the 27th of October 1919 died on the 12th of February 1986. He was the only native of Northern Ireland to receive the Victoria Cross for Second World War service. He was born on the 27th of October 1919 at Majorca Street, West Belfast. He was from a working class Roman Catholic family.
He served as Diver in His Majesty's Midget Submarine XE-3 for her attack on the 31st of July 1945, on a Japanese cruiser of the Atago class. The diver's hatch could not be fully opened because XE-3 was tightly jammed under the target, and Magennis had to squeeze himself through the narrow space available. On the 3rd of June 1935 he enlisted in the Royal Navy as a boy seaman (spelling his surname Magennis). He served on several different warships between 1935 and 1942, when he joined the submarine branch. Before joining the submarine branch, Magennis served on the destroyer Kandahar which was mined off Tripoli, Libya, in December 1941 whilst Magennis was on board. The ship was irreparably damaged and was scuttled the following day. In December 1942, he was drafted into the Submarine service and in March 1943 he volunteered for "special and Hazardous duties" which meant Midget submarines, or X-craft. He trained as a diver, and in September 1943 took part in the first major use of the X-craft during Operation Source. Two submarines, HMS X7 and HMS X6, penetrated Kåfjord, Norway, and disabled the German battleship Tirpitz. For his part in the attack Magennis was mentioned in dispatches "for bravery and devotion to duty" in 1943.
Rifleman Robert Quigg VC
Robert Quigg was born at Carnkirk, near the Giants Causeway in County Antrim on the 28th February 1885. On the 1st July 1916 the 12th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles were in the front line trenches near the village of Hamel. Their objective was the German lines defending Beaucourt Railway Station. Despite three charges the battalion was unable to gain any meaningful lodgement in the German defences and was to all intents and purposes cut to pieces.
Following his award Robert Quigg was promoted to Sergeant and returned to France where he continued to serve. At the end of the war Quigg re-enlisted and saw service in Mesopotamia and Egypt. His army record shows that he was discharged in October 1926, but there is some confusion about this. His military career appears colourful, which continued in later life when he followed his father's footsteps and became a guide at the Giant's Causeway and something of a celebrity in the area. He died at the age of seventy on 14 May 1955 and was given a full military funeral at the Billy Parish Churchyard, near Bushmills, County Antrim.
The body of the platoon officer, Sir Harry Macnaghten was never found and was posted 'missing believed killed', but five of the seven rescued men survived. Robert Quigg received his Victoria Cross from King George V at York Cottage on the Sandringham Estate on 8 January 1917.
Field Marshal Sir George Stuart White VC
Field Marshal Sir George Stuart White VC, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, GCVO born on the 6th of July 1835 died on the 24th of June 1912. He was stationed at Peshawar during the Indian Mutiny and then fought at the Battle of Charasiab in October 1879 and at the Battle of Kandahar in September 1880 during the Second Anglo-Afghan War. For his bravery during these two battles, he was awarded the Victoria Cross. He went on to command a brigade during the Third Anglo-Burmese War in 1886 and became commander of Quetta District in 1889 in which role he led operations in the Zhob Valley and in Balochistan. He was commander of the forces in Natal at the opening of the Second Boer War and fought at the Battle of Elandslaagte in October 1899. He commanded the garrison at the Siege of Ladysmith: although instructed by General Sir Redvers Buller to surrender the garrison he responded "I hold Ladysmith for the Queen" and held out for another four months before being relieved in February 1900. He finished his career as Governor of Gibraltar and then as Governor of the Royal Hospital Chelsea.
He was 44 years old when he won the VC for actions in Afghanistan. He was buried at Broughshane, in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. A statue of White is currently located at Portland Place, London, while the Sir George White Memorial Flute Band still operates in Broughshane, Ballymena.
Private Alexander Wright VC
Private Alexander Wright VC. Born in Ballymena, Co. Antrim in 1826 died in Calcutta, India on the 28th of July 1858. He was about 29 years old, and a private in the 77th (East Middlesex) Regiment of Foot (later The Middlesex Regiment, Duke of Cambridge's Own). On 22 March 1855 at the Siege of Sebastopol, in the Crimean Peninsula, Private Wright distinguished himself in repelling a sortie. On the 19th of April he showed great bravery at the taking of the Russian Rifle Pits and was particularly noticed for the encouragement he gave the other men while holding the Pits under very heavy fire, he was wounded in this action. He again showed great courage on the 30th of August 1855, and throughout the war.
The London Gazette: no. 21971. p. 661. 24 February 1857.
Lieutenant-Colonel Lord William Leslie de la Poer Beresford
Lieutenant-Colonel Lord William Leslie de la Poer Beresford VC KCIE 20th of July 1847 – 30th of December 1900 born Mullaghbrack, County Armagh. Beresford became a captain in the 9th Lancers during the Zulu War of 1879.[1] On 3 July 1879 at Ulundi, Zululand, South Africa, during the retirement of a reconnoitring party, Captain Lord William Beresford went to the assistance of Sergeant Fitzmaurice of the 24th Regiment, whose horse had fallen and rolled on him. The Zulus were coming in great numbers, but Lord William, with help from Sergeant Edmund O'Toole of the Frontier Light Horse managed to mount the injured man behind him. He was, however, so dizzy that Sergeant O'Toole, who had been keeping back the advancing Zulus, gave up his carbine and, riding alongside, helped to hold him on until they reached safety. Initially the VC was only awarded to Beresford but he told the Queen that O'Toole also deserved the honour.
Sergeant-Major George Lambert VC
George Lambert VC, born in Markethill, County Armagh, on the 16th of December 1819 died on the 10th of February 1860. He was 37 years old, and a Sergeant-Major in the 84th Regiment of Foot (later the 2nd Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment). He was awarded the VC for distinguished bravery whilst serving, in three Battles, with Havelock's Column at Oonao, Bithoor and at the assault and capture of Lucknow, India. On the 29th July, 1857 at Oonao, India, Sergeant-Major Lambert acted with distinguished bravery. At Bithoor when the rebels were driven from a strong position, using bayonets on the 16th August 1857. On the 25th of September 1857 at the passage through Lucknow, India, after its capture, to the Residency. His death certificate gives the cause of death as being an aortic aneurysm that ruptured and flooded his right lung with blood. His grave is in the Cemetery at Wardsend. His funeral took place eight days after his death on the 18th of February 1860. The ceremony was conducted with military honours, the band of the regiment marching at the head of the procession and playing the Dead March ... his charger was led after the body bearing his masters boots reversed. The usual volleys were fired over the grave at the conclusion of the service and the procession then returned to the barracks.
Rear Admiral Charles Davis Lucas VC
Rear Admiral Charles Davis Lucas VC. Born in Druminargal House, Poyntzpass, County Armagh, on the 19th of February 1834 died in Great Culverden, Kent on the 7th of August 1914. He is buried at St Lawrence Church, Mereworth, Maidstone, Kent. He enlisted in the Royal Navy in 1848 at age 13, served aboard HMS Vengeance, and saw action in the Second Anglo-Burmese War of 1852-53 aboard the frigate Fox at Rangoon, Pegu, and Dalla. By age 20, he had become a mate. He was first person to be awarded the VC, the action for which he was awarded the VC took place on the 21st of June 1854. The first Victoria Cross recipient to be gazetted was Lieutenant Cecil William Buckley, in the London Gazette of the 24th of February 1857, for his actions in the Sea of Azov on the 28th of May 1855. The first recipient to physically receive his award was, because of the seniority of his rank, Commander Henry James Raby, at the inaugural awards ceremony on the 26th of June 1857. Lucas was fourth in line at the investiture. His were the earliest actions to result in the award of the Victoria Cross.
William Frederick "Billy" McFadzean VC
William Frederick "Billy" McFadzean VC born in Lurgan, County Armagh on the 9th of October 1895 died on the 1st of July 1916 on the Somme near Thiepval Wood. McFadzean was a 20-year-old rifleman in the 14th Battalion, The Royal Irish Rifles, during the First World War. On 1 July 1916, during the Battle of the Somme near Thiepval Wood, France, a box of hand grenades slipped into a crowded trench. Two of the safety pins in the grenades were dislodged. McFadzean threw himself on top of the grenades, which exploded, killing him but injuring only one other.
Private Peter McManus
Peter McManus was born in Tynan, Co. Armagh in March 1829. On 26th September 1857 he was a Private in the 5th Regiment of Foot at Lucknow. McManus assisted Pte John Ryan in rescuing a wounded officer, Captain Arnold of the Madras Fusiliers, from the street and carried him into a house. Arnold was wounded again on the way and later died. With a group of men besieged in the house, McManus stayed outside under cover of a pillar, preventing the mutineers from rushing his position. Eventually he was himself wounded. For his courage Peter McManus was awarded a Victoria Cross and promoted to Sergeant. Peter McManus died of smallpox at Allahabad on the 27th April 1859. He is believed to be buried in a mass grave there.
Private Bernard McQuirt VC
Bernard McQuirt VC was born in Donaghcloney near Lurgan, County Armagh in 1829 he died in Erney Street off the Shankill Road, Belfast, on the 5th of October 1888. He was about 29 years old, and a private in the 95th (Derbyshire) Regiment of Foot later The Sherwood Foresters, The Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment when he won the VC.
Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Francis Maude
Frederick Maude was born in Lisnadill, Co Armagh on the 20th of December 1821 and died in Torquay, Devon on the 20th of June 1897 and is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London. , he was the son of the Right Honorable Robert Eustace Maude. He served in the Buffs from 1840 to 1861, being adjutant at Punniar and earning the VC for his bravery at the Redan in the siege of Sebastopol. He commanded the 2nd Battalion from 1857 for 4 years. He held the post of Adjutant-General in Gibraltar from 1861 to 1866 and was Inspector-General of Militia in Ireland 1867-73. He also served in the Afghan campaign of 1878-80 in the Peshawar Field Force guarding lines of communication, and reached the rank of General. He was knighted GCB and received the Legion d'Honneur. His cousin, Francis Cornwallis Maude RA also won the VC in the Indian Mutiny.
General Sir William Olpherts VC
General Sir William Olpherts VC, GCB was born on the 8th of March 1822 at Dartry, Blackwatertown near Armagh. He died at his residence, Wood House, Upper Norwood, on the 30th of April 1902, and was buried at Richmond Cemetery, Surrey (now in London). Olpherts served throughout the suppression of the Indian Mutiny (1857–59). He was with Brigadier James Neill when he defeated the mutineers at Benares on the 4th of June 1857, and accompanied Havelock during the Relief of Lucknow. His conduct in the course of that operation was highly distinguished and was to earn him the Victoria Cross. As a result the Battery he commanded (now part of the Royal Regiment of Artillery) was later awarded his name as their title, commemorating both William Olphert and the distinguished actions of the unit that day. The Battery, 56 (Olpherts) Battery Royal Artillery, still exists today.
Corporal Philip Smith VC
Philip Smith VC was born in Lurgan, County Armagh in 1829. He died in Dublin on the 16th of January 1906. He was 26 old, and a corporal in the 17th Regiment (later the Leicestershire Regiment), during the Siege of Sebastopol in the Crimean War when he won the VC. Having achieved the rank of lance sergeant, he was later reduced to the ranks and when discharged he was a private. He died at Harolds Cross, Dublin on the 16th of January 1906 and was buried at Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin. Philip Smith was invested with his Victoria Cross by Brigadier General Sir Charles Trollope in Canada on the 1st August 1857. On Saturday, 29th November 2003, five generations of the Smith family joined veterans from the Royal Leicestershire Regimental Association in an emotional service to place a footstone at the graveside of Corporal (Lance-Sergeant) Philip Smith VC in Dublin's Glasnevin Cemetery. The relatives included Smith's grand-daughter, originally from Ireland now living in Bedford, a great-grandson, and the youngest a great-great-granddaughter. The short service was followed by a reception at the official home of the British Embassy's military attaché.
Colour Sergeant John Lucas
John Lucas VC, he was born in Clashganny, Bagenalstown, County Carlow in 1826. He died in Dublin on the 29th of February 1892 and is buried there in St. James Church of Ireland Churchyard, Dublin. He was approximately 35 years old, and a colour sergeant in the 40th (2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot (later part of the South Lancashire Regiment – The Prince of Wales's Volunteers) when he won the VC. The action was part of the First Taranaki War during the New Zealand Land Wars. This campaign started over a disputed land sale at Waitara. In December 1860 British forces under Major General Thomas Simson Pratt carried out sapping operations against a major Māori defensive line called Te Arei ("The barrier") on the west side of the Waitara River and inland from Waitara, which was barring the way to the historic hill pā of Pukewairangi. The 18 March was the last day before a truce was declared.
Private John Lyons
Private John Lyons was born in 1823 in Carlow, County Carlow. He was approximately 32 years old, and a private in the 19th Regiment of Foot (later The Yorkshire Regiment - Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own), during the Crimean War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. In 1856, his Regiment returned to England and on 26th June 1857 he was one of 62 men to be decorated with the Victoria Cross in Hyde Park, London by Queen Victoria. At the end of July, he travelled with his Regiment to Bengal in India and helped suppress the Indian Mutiny. He was returned sick to England in 1861 and discharged from the army on medical grounds on 6th December 1862, aged 39 years.
He was sent to the Royal Hospital in Chelsea to convalesce for six months and was released as an out-pensioner on the 14th July 1863. He returned to Carlow in Ireland, but there is no record of the next few years of his life. He moved to Naas in County Kildare where he died on 20th April 1867 aged 44 years. There is no known memorial. The VC and medals are now held in the Green Howards Regimental Museum at Richmond.
Captain Harold Marcus Ervine-Andrews VC
Captain Harold Marcus Ervine-Andrews VC he was born on the 29th July 1911 at Keadu, Cavan he died on the 30th of March 1995. He was 28 years old, and a captain in the 1st Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment, during the Second World War. In the latter stages of the Battle of Dunkirk, during the night of the 31st of May and the 1st of June 1940, near Dunkirk, France, the company commanded by Captain Ervine-Andrews was heavily outnumbered and under intense German fire. When the enemy attacked at dawn and crossed the Canal de Bergues, Ervine-Andrews, with volunteers from his company, rushed to a barn and from the roof shot 17 of the enemy with a rifle and many more with a Bren gun. When the barn was shattered and alight, he sent the wounded to the rear and led the remaining eight men back.
Private John McGovern
John McGovern VC– 22 November 1888) (Also known as McGowan) was born in the parish of Templeport in Tullyhaw, County Cavan, on the 16th of May 1825, he emigrated to Canada and died in Hamilton, Ontario, on the 22nd of November 1888. He is buried in the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Hamilton. He was 32 years old, and a private in the 1st Bengal European Fusiliers (later The Royal Munster Fusiliers), Bengal Army during the Indian Mutiny on the 23rd of June 1857 at Delhi, India when he won the VC.
Company Sergeant Major Robert Hill Hanna
Robert Hanna was born in Kilkeel, County Down, Ireland on the 6th of August 1886, he moved to Canada in 1905. He joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War, and by the summer of 1917 was a Company Sergeant-Major (CSM) serving with the 29th Infantry Battalion.
On the 21st of August 1917 CSM Hanna’s company was attempting to overpower a German strongpoint on Hill 70, near Lens in France. In the course of three assaults on the enemy position, the company had suffered several casualties, including the loss of all of its officers. While his company continued to take casualties from the heavy machine gun fire coming from the strongpoint, Hanna calmly collected a party of men and led them in a fourth attack, rushing through the dense barbed wire protecting the position. When he arrived inside the strongpoint, CSM Hanna bayoneted three of the enemy and clubbed a fourth with his rifle, enabling the position and its machine gun to be captured.
For the bravery and leadership he demonstrated in this action, Hanna received the Victoria Cross. He died in Mount Lehman, British Columbia on the 15th of June 1967.
William David Kenny VC
William David Kenny VC born Saintfield, County Down on the 1st of February 1899. Kenny was commissioned in to the Indian Army as a second lieutenant on on the 31st of August 1918. He was promoted to lieutenant a year later. He was 20 years old, and a lieutenant in the 4/39th Garhwal Rifles, Indian Army during the Waziristan Campaign, India, when he won his VC.
Surgeon Captain Thomas Joseph Crean
Surgeon-Captain Crean, son of Thomas Crean, Esq., Barrister-at-Law, of North Brook Road, Dublin, was born on April 19, 1873. Educated at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, he joined the Imperial Light Horse as a trooper on the outbreak of hostilities. Was commissioned in March, 1900, and appointed Captain in 1900. Gave up squadron command in June, 1901, and became Surgeon-Captain. Gazetted Captain R.A.M.C. on September 3, 1902. Took part in the battle of Elandslaagte, where he was wounded. Served through the siege of Ladysmith, taking part in all engagements during its defence. Later, was employed during operations in the Transvaal and Orange River Colony, and in the relief of Mafeking. Possesses Queen's and King's medals with five clasps, and a testimonial of the Royal Humane Society. The Victoria Cross was presented to him by H.M. the King at St. James' Palace on. March 13, 1902.
Company Serjeant-Major Fredrick Hall
Fredrick Hall was born in James Stephens Barracks, Kilkenny on the 21st of February 1885. He spent a number of years in Kilkenny before moving with his family to England. His father was the Drum Major with the 5th Militia Battalion Royal Irish Regiment when he was born. He enlisted with the 8th Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force on 23 Sept 1914 and he embarked with his unit for England on the 3rd of October 1914. Regt No 1539 CSM Hall was killed in action on the 24th of April 1914 while attempting to recue one of his soldiers from no man’s land. As a result of this action he was granted the Victoria Cross “For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty.
John Moyney
John Moyney was born in Rathdowney, Ireland. He was 22 years old, and a lance-sergeant in the Irish Guards, British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 12/13 September 1917 north of Broenbeek, Belgium, Lance-Sergeant Moyney was in command of 15 men forming two advanced posts. Surrounded by the enemy he held his post for 96 hours, having no water and very little food. On the fifth day, on the enemy advancing to dislodge him, he attacked them with bombs, while also using his Lewis gun with great effect. Finding himself surrounded, he led his men in a charge through the enemy and reached a stream, where he and a private (Thomas Woodcock) covered his party while they crossed unscathed, before crossing themselves under a shower of bullets.
He died in Roscrea, County Tipperary on 10 November 1980.
His Victoria Cross is displayed at Irish Guards Regimental Headquarters, Wellington Barracks, London.
Monaghan 3
Private Francis FITZPATRICK in 1859 at Tullycorbet, Co. Monaghan
Major David Nelson VC
Major David Nelson VC was born Deraghland, Stranooden, County Monaghan, Ireland. He was 28 years old, and a sergeant in 'L' Battery, Royal Horse Artillery when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
Action at Néry
On 1st September 1914 at Néry, France, Sergeant Nelson helped to bring the guns into action - with an officer (Edward Kinder Bradbury) and a warrant officer (George Thomas Dorrell) - under heavy fire and in spite of being severely wounded. He remained with the guns until all the ammunition was expended, although he had been ordered to retire to cover.
Nelson later achieved the rank of major. He was killed in action at Lillers, France.
His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Imperial War Museum, London, England.
Asst. Surgeon William TEMPLE on 7th November 1833 at Monaghan.