List of Victoria Cross recipients from the British 2nd Division

The Victoria Cross (VC) is a military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of armed forces of some Commonwealth countries and previous British Empire territories. The VC was introduced, in Great Britain, on 29 January 1856 by Queen Victoria to reward acts of valour during the Crimean War. It takes precedence over all other orders, decorations and medals. It may be awarded to a person of any rank in any service, and to civilians under military command. All those who earn the VC have their names published in the The London Gazette.[1]

Saving the guns at Colenso, by Sidney Paget, depicts the event that resulted in the 2nd Division earning four Victoria Cross medals

The 2nd Division was an infantry division of the British Army, which was formed and disbanded numerous times over a 200-year period. It was raised in 1854, to take part in the Crimean War against the Russian Empire.[2] It played an important role in the Battle of Inkerman, and was engaged throughout the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855).[3] In 1856, after the conclusion of hostilities, it was stood-down.[4] During the war, ten VCs were earned by members of the division. It was again raised, in 1899, for service in the Second Boer War.[5] The division took part in all the notable battles that made up the Relief of Ladysmith. At the end of 1900, when conventional warfare ended, the division was broken-up so its forces could be reassigned elsewhere in an effort to combat the Boer guerrilla tactics.[6][7] During this period, a further eight VCs were earned by soldiers who had been part of the division. The division was reformed in 1902, and went on to fight in many of the major battles on the Western Front during the First World War (1914–1918).[8][9][10] During the four years of war, eighteen members of the division were earned VCs. The division next saw combat during the Second World War (1939–1945), which resulted in three additional soldiers being awarded the VC. Since the Second World War, the division had not been in battle and was disbanded for the final time in 2012.[11][12]

Recipients
Date of action Rank Name Unit Place of action Country of action Sources
26 October 1854 Brevet-Major John Augustus Conolly 49th Regiment of Foot Inkerman, Crimea Russian Empire [13]
26 October 1854 Sergeant major Ambrose Madden 41st Regiment of Foot Inkerman, Crimea Russian Empire [14][15][16]
30 October 1854 Corporal James Owens 49th Regiment of Foot Crimea Russian Empire [15][17]
5 November 1854 Private Thomas Beach 55th Regiment of Foot Inkerman, Crimea Russian Empire [15][17]
5 November 1854 Private John McDermond 47th Regiment of Foot Inkerman, Crimea Russian Empire [15][17]
5 November 1854 Brevet-Major Hugh Rowlands 41st Regiment of Foot Inkerman, Crimea Russian Empire [14][15]
5 November 1854 Brevet-Major Mark Walker 30th Regiment of Foot Inkerman, Crimea Russian Empire [15][18]
5 November 1854 Sergeant George Walters 49th Regiment of Foot Inkerman, Crimea Russian Empire [15][17]
8 September 1855 Lieutenant colonel Frederick Francis Maude 3rd Regiment of Foot Sevastopol, Crimea Russian Empire [19]
8 September 1855 Private John Connors 3rd Regiment of Foot Sevastopol, Crimea Russian Empire [19]
15 December 1899 Major William Babtie Royal Army Medical Corps Colenso Colony of Natal [20][21]
15 December 1899 Captain Walter Norris Congreve Rifle Brigade Colenso Colony of Natal [21][22]
15 December 1899 Corporal George Edward Nurse Royal Field Artillery Colenso Colony of Natal [21][22]
15 December 1899 Captain Hamilton Lyster Reed Royal Field Artillery Colenso Colony of Natal [21][22]
15 December 1899 Lieutenant Frederick Roberts King's Royal Rifle Corps Colenso Colony of Natal [21][22]
15 December 1899 Captain Harry Norton Schofield Royal Field Artillery Colenso Colony of Natal [21][23]
23 February 1900 Private Albert Edward Curtis East Surrey Regiment Wynne's Hill Colony of Natal [21][24][25]
27 February 1900 Captain Conwyn Mansel-Jones West Yorkshire Regiment Tugela Colony of Natal [21][26]
23 August 1914 Corporal Charles Ernest Garforth 15th The King's Hussars Harmingnies Belgium [27][28]
25–26 August 1914 Lance Corporal George Harry Wyatt Coldstream Guards Landrecies France [28][29]
14 September 1914 Private George Wilson Highland Light Infantry Verneuill France [28][30]
19–20 September 1914 Captain Harry Sherwood Ranken Royal Army Medical Corps Haute-Avesnes France [28][27]
28 September 1914 Lance Corporal Frederick William Dobson Coldstream Guards Near Soupir France [31][32]
29 October–8 November 1914 Lieutenant Arthur Martin-Leake Royal Army Medical Corps Zonnebeke Belgium [28][33]
11 November 1914 Lieutenant Walter Lorrain Brodie Highland Light Infantry Becelaere Belgium [28][34]
1 February 1915 Lance Corporal Michael John O'Leary Irish Guards Cuinchy France [28][33]
16 May 1915 Lance Corporal Joseph Harcourt Tombs King's (Liverpool Regiment) Rue du Bois France [28][35]
25 September 1915 Captain Arthur Forbes Gordon Kilby South Staffordshire Regiment Cuinchy France [36][37]
27 September 1915 Corporal Alfred Alexander Burt Hertfordshire Regiment Cuinchy France [28][38]
16 November 1915 Second Lieutenant Alexander Buller Turner Princess Charlotte of Wales's (Royal Berkshire Regiment) Vermelles France [28][39]
24 October 1916 Sergeant Albert Gill King's Royal Rifle Corps Delville Wood France [40][41]
17 February 1917 Lance Sergeant Frederick William Palmer Royal Fusiliers Near Miraumont France [42][43]
29 April 1917 Lance Corporal James Welch Princess Charlotte of Wales's (Royal Berkshire Regiment) Oppy, Pas-de-Calais France [44][45]
30 November 1917 Lieutenant (Acting Captain) Walter Napleton Stone Royal Fusiliers Near Moeuvres France [46][47]
30 November–1 December 1917 Lieutenant (Acting Captain) Allastair Malcolm Cluny McReady-Diarmid Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment) Near Moeuvres France [48][49]
16 April 1918 Private Jack Thomas Counter King's (Liverpool Regiment) Boisieux St. Marc France [50][51]
15–16 May 1940 Second Lieutenant Richard Annand Durham Light Infantry River Dyle Belgium [52][53]
21 May 1940 Company Sergeant-Major George Gristock Royal Norfolk Regiment River Escaut near Tournai Belgium [52][54]
4–6 May 1944 Lieutenant (temporary Captain) John Neil Randle Royal Norfolk Regiment Kohima India [54][55]

See also

Notes
  1. Ashcroft 2006, pp. XI–XIII, 7.
  2. Barthorp 1980, p. 155; Bowden 1991, p. 16; Ponting 2006, p. 7.
  3. Warner 2001, pp. 75–79, 150–152; Ffrench Blake 2006, p. 86–94, 98–101; Raugh 2004, p. 187; Richards 2006, p. 152.
  4. Ffrench Blake 2006, p. 143–144, 150–151; Demchak 2011, p. 127.
  5. Dunlop 1938, p. 72.
  6. Conan Doyle 1901, pp. 190–192, 254–255, 267–276, 284–285, 289, 291–294.
  7. Creswicke 1901, pp. 98, 138.
  8. Dunlop 1938, pp. 218–219.
  9. Wyrall 1921a, Contents.
  10. Wyrall 1921b, Contents.
  11. Joslen 2003, p. 40.
  12. Taylor 2011, p. 5.
  13. "No. 21997". The London Gazette. 5 May 1857. p. 1579.
  14. "No. 21971". The London Gazette. 24 February 1857. p. 659.
  15. Warner 2001, p. 191; Ffrench Blake 2006, pp. 169–170.
  16. "WO 98/3/63: Victoria Cross details of Madden, Ambrose Rank". The National Archives. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  17. "No. 21971". The London Gazette. 24 February 1857. p. 660.
  18. "No. 22149". The London Gazette. 4 June 1858. p. 2756.
  19. "No. 21971". The London Gazette. 24 February 1857. p. 658.
  20. "No. 27184". The London Gazette. 20 April 1900. p. 2547.
  21. Creswicke 1900, pp. 11, 160, 190.
  22. "No. 27160". The London Gazette. 2 February 1900. p. 689.
  23. "No. 27350". The London Gazette. 30 August 1901. p. 5737.
  24. "No. 27266". The London Gazette. 15 January 1901. p. 308.
  25. Ashcroft 2006, p. 110.
  26. "No. 27214". The London Gazette. 27 July 1901. p. 4653.
  27. "No. 28976". The London Gazette. 13 November 1914. p. 9374.
  28. Wyrall 1921b, p. 738.
  29. "No. 29371". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 November 1915. p. 11449.
  30. "No. 28998". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 December 1914. p. 10411.
  31. "No. 29001". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 December 1914. p. 10533.
  32. Wyrall 1921b, pp. 96–97.
  33. "No. 29074". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 February 1915. p. 1700.
  34. "No. 29005". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 December 1914. p. 10661.
  35. "No. 29240". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 July 1915. p. 7280.
  36. "No. 29527". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 March 1916. p. 3409.
  37. Wyrall 1921b, pp. 222, 227.
  38. "No. 29447". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 January 1916. p. 945.
  39. "No. 29371". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 November 1915. p. 11448.
  40. "No. 29802". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 October 1916. p. 10395.
  41. Wyrall 1921b, pp. 276–279.
  42. "No. 30008". The London Gazette. 3 April 1917. p. 3207.
  43. Wyrall 1921b, pp. 367–370.
  44. "No. 30154". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 June 1917. p. 6382.
  45. Wyrall 1921b, pp. 428–431.
  46. "No. 30523". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 February 1918. p. 2004.
  47. Wyrall 1921b, p. 486-487.
  48. "No. 30578". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 March 1918. p. 3305.
  49. Wyrall 1921b, pp. 493, 502–503.
  50. "No. 30697". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 May 1918. p. 6059.
  51. Wyrall 1921b, pp. 591–592.
  52. "No. 34928". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 August 1940. p. 5137.
  53. Joslen 2003, pp. 40, 240.
  54. Joslen 2003, pp. 40, 234.
  55. "No. 36833". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 December 1944. p. 5673.

References
  • Ashcroft, Michael (2006). Victoria Cross Heroes. Headline Book Publishing. ISBN 0-7553-1632-0.
  • Barthorp, Michael (1980). The Armies of Britain, 1485-1980. London: National Army Museum. OCLC 252418281.
  • Bowden, Mark (1991). Pitt Rivers: The Life and Archaeological Work of Lieutenant-General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt River DCL, FRS, FSA. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-52140-077-0.
  • Conan Doyle, Arthur (1901). The Great Boer War (5th ed.). London: George Bell & Sons. OCLC 26467440.
  • Creswicke, Louis (1900). South Africa and the Transvaal War. III. Edinburgh: T. C. & E. C. Jack. OCLC 154231374.
  • Creswicke, Louis (1901). South Africa and the Transvaal War. VI. Edinburgh: T. C. & E. C. Jack. OCLC 154231374.
  • Demchak, Chris C. (2011). Wars of Disruption and Resilience: Cybered Conflict, Power, and National Security. Athens, Georgia: The University of Georgia Press. ISBN 978-0-82034-137-8.
  • Dunlop, John K. (1938). The Development of the British Army 1899–1914. London: Methuen. OCLC 59826361.
  • Ffrench Blake, R.L.V. (2006) [1971]. The Crimean War. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 978-1-844-15449-4.
  • Joslen, H. F. (2003) [1990]. Orders of Battle: Second World War, 1939–1945. Uckfield: Naval and Military Press. ISBN 978-1-84342-474-1.
  • Ponting, Clive (2006). The Crimean War: The Truth Behind the Myth. Sydney: Pimlico. ISBN 978-0-71263-653-7.
  • Raugh, Harold E. (2004). The Victorians at War, 1815-1914: An Encyclopedia of British Military History. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-Clio. ISBN 978-1-57607-925-6.
  • Richards, Donald (2006). Conflict in the Crimea: British Redcoats on Russian Soil. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 978-1-84415-343-5.
  • Taylor, Claire (2011). "Defence Basing Review (SN06038)" (PDF). House of Commons Library: International Affairs and Defence Section. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  • Warner, Philip (2001) [1972]. The Crimean War: A Reappraisal. Ware, Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions Limited. ISBN 978-1-84022-247-0.
  • Wyrall, Everard (1921a). The History of the Second Division, 1914–1918. I. London: Thomas Nelson and Sons. OCLC 1167884897. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
  • Wyrall, Everard (1921b). The History of the Second Division, 1914–1918. II. London: Thomas Nelson and Sons. OCLC 1167884897. Retrieved 31 July 2014.

Further reading
  • Crook, M.J. (1975). The Evolution of the Victoria Cross. Midas books. ISBN 0-85936-041-5.
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