VC Action: Valentine Bambrick, VC (13 April 1837 – 1 April 1864) was 21 years old, and a private in the 1st Battalion, 60th Rifles (later The King's Royal Rifle Corps), British Army during the Indian Mutiny when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
Bareilly lies 140 miles east of Delhi and in the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 the native troops stationed there rose on May 31 and left to join the rebels in Delhi in June 1857. The rebels returned to Bareilly in September after Delhi had been relieved by British Forces and were joined by several insurgent leaders with their supporters.
The British Army were despatched to Bareilly under General Sir Colin Campbell which included the Roorkee Field Force, incorporating, among other units, 1st Battalion the 60th Rifles, with whom marched Private Valentine Bambrick. General Campbell arrived at Bareilly on 6th May 1858, with the Roorkee Field Force under the command of Brigadier-General John Jones who had commanded the 1st / 60th Rifles during the siege of Delhi. The whole of the 1st Battalion took part in the assault on Bareilly.
On 6 May 1858 at Bareilly, India, confused fighting followed the entry of British troops into the warren of streets and alleyways. A party posted on a roof-top by Lieutenant Cromer Ashburnham, commanding D Company, gave warning of a large body of "Ghazees" towards the serai or group of buildings within which Bambrick fought. Private Bambrick showed conspicuous bravery when he was attacked by three Ghazees, one of whom he cut down. He was wounded twice on this occasion. (It might be considered that Bambrick's action was simply one of self-defence, but it was not unusual for the VC to be awarded to an individual who in the eyes of his comrades had most distinguished himself in a decisive action in which they had all taken part).
After the action at Bareilly, Bambrick continued to serve with the 1st / 60th Rifles at Seetapore, but when the battalion left for England in August 1860 he elected to stay in India and transferred to the 87th Foot, later the Royal Irish Fusiliers. He served with the 87th at the Curragh, Ireland, and was discharged at Aldershot on 16th November 1863, when his luck changed.
Shortly after his discharge from the army Valentine Bambrick was involved in an incident where as he was proceeding to a room with a woman, he was approached by another female who asked him for protection from a beating by one Henry Russell. A fight ensued and later Russell accused Bambrick, and the woman he was with, Charlotte Johnson, of violent assault and of stealing his medals. Valentine Bambrick was found guilty and was sentenced to three years penal servitude. He had his Victoria Cross forfeited by Royal Warrant on 3rd December 1863. Bambrick fell into a state of deep depression and committed suicide in Pentonville Prison, London on 1 April 1864.
The influence of King George V came into play over the forfeiture of the Victoria Cross from eight men who had been convicted of theft, bigamy and desertion. In 1920 the King wrote a letter to his private secretary, Lord Stamfordham, in which he wrote "The King feels so strongly that, no matter the crime committed by anyone on whom the VC has been conferred, the decoration should not be forfeited. Even were a VC to be sentenced to be hanged for murder, he should be allowed to wear the VC on the scaffold". The names of all eight men, including Valentine Bambrick, were eventually added to the Register of Victoria Cross recipients. |
