James McGuire (VC)

James McGuire VC (1827 – 22 December 1862) was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. The V.C. was later forfeited.

James McGuire
Born1827
Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Ireland
Died22 December 1862 (aged 34–35)
Derry, County Londonderry, Ireland
Buried
Donagh Cemetery
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branchBengal Army
Years of service1849–1859
RankSergeant
Unit1st Bengal European Fusiliers
Battles/wars
AwardsVictoria Cross (forfeited)

Details

He was about 30 years old, and a sergeant in the 1st Bengal European Fusiliers (later The Royal Munster Fusiliers), Bengal Army during the Indian Mutiny when the following deed took place on 14 September 1857 at Delhi, India for which he together with Drummer Miles Ryan were awarded the VC:

Serjeant J. McGuire, Drummer M. Ryan

Date of Act of Bravery, 14th September, 1857

At the assault on Delhi on the 14th September, 1857, when the Brigade had reached the Cabul Gate, the 1st Fusiliers and 75th Regiment, and some Sikhs, were waiting for orders, and some of the Regiments were getting ammunition served out (three boxes of which exploded from some cause not clearly known, and two others were in a state of ignition), when Serjeant McGuire and Drummer Ryan rushed into the burning mass, and, seizing the boxes, threw them, one after the other, over the parapet into the water. The confusion consequent on the explosion was very great, and the crowd of soldiers and native followers, who did not know where the danger lay, were rushing into certain destruction, when Serjeant McGuire and Drummer Ryan, by their coolness and personal daring, saved the lives of many at the risk of their own.[1]

Further information

One of eight men whose VCs were forfeited. McGuire's VC was forfeited after he was convicted of stealing a cow. He died in Derry, Ireland, 22 December 1862.

The medal

His Victoria Cross is displayed at the National Army Museum (Chelsea, England).

gollark: Lemmmy, bug: in the code blocks there the krist emoji was substituted in.
gollark: *why not*
gollark: I feel like commonmeta should really just have been JSON.
gollark: Yes, I do.
gollark: One thing to improve your life: don't Google.

References
  1. "No. 22212". The London Gazette. 24 December 1858. p. 5519.

Listed in order of publication year

  • The Register of the Victoria Cross (1981, 1988 and 1997)
  • Clarke, Brian D. H. (1986). "A register of awards to Irish-born officers and men". The Irish Sword. XVI (64): 185–287.
  • Ireland's VCs ISBN 1-899243-00-3 (Dept of Economic Development 1995)
  • Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
  • Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross (Richard Doherty & David Truesdale, 2000)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.