Reginald Hart

General Sir Reginald Clare Hart, VC, GCB, KCVO (11 June 1848 – 18 October 1931), was an Irish British Army officer and recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Sir Reginald Hart
Born11 June 1848
Scarriff, County Clare
Died18 October 1931 (aged 83)
Bournemouth, Dorset
Buried
St Mary's Churchyard, Netherbury
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
RankGeneral
UnitRoyal Engineers
Commands heldCommander of Cape Colony
Battles/warsSecond Anglo-Afghan War
AwardsVictoria Cross
Order of the Bath
Royal Victorian Order
Royal Humane Society's Silver Medal
Other workLieutenant Governor of Guernsey
Colonel Commandant, Royal Engineers

Early life and career

Hart was born at Scarriff, County Clare, son of Henry George Hart and educated at Cheltenham College.[1] He was commissioned in the Royal Engineers.

Details on VC

He was 30 years old, and a lieutenant in the Corps of Royal Engineers, British Army during the Second Anglo-Afghan War when the following deed took place on 31 January 1879 in the Bazar Valley, Afghanistan, for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross:

For his gallant conduct in risking his own life in endeavouring to save the life of a private soldier. The Lieutenant-General commanding the 2nd Division Peshawar Field Force, reports that when on convoy duty with that Force on 31st January, 1879, Lieutenant Hart, of the Royal Engineers, took the initiative in running some 1,200 yards to the rescue of a wounded Sowar of the 13th Bengal Lancers in a river bed exposed to the fire of the enemy, of unknown strength, from both flanks, and also from a party in the river bed. Lieutenant Hart reached the wounded Sowar, drove off the enemy, and brought him under cover with the aid of some soldiers who accompanied him on the way.[2]

Later career

Hart was appointed a district commander in Belgaum, Madras Command, on 2 March 1896. Following the outbreak of the Second Boer War in South Africa, he was on 5 October 1899 appointed temporary in command of the Quetta district (whose commander was sent to SA).[3][4] He stayed there for almost three years, until he became General Officer Commanding Thames District in late 1902. Promoted to general, he served as Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey from 1914 to 1918.[5] He died at Bournemouth, Dorset on 18 October 1931.

Sir Reginald Clare Hart's is buried in St Marys Churchyard, Netherbury, Dorset, England.[6]

Grave at St Marys Churchyard, Netherbury
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References
  1. List of the 14 Old Cheltonians who have won the Victoria Cross Archived 13 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "No. 24732". The London Gazette. 10 June 1879. p. 3830.
  3. "No. 27469". The London Gazette. 29 August 1902. p. 5610.
  4. Hart′s Army list, 1901
  5. World Statesmen
  6. Lieutenant Reginald Clare Hart VC Royal Engineers Museum
  • 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 and David Truesdale, 2000)
Government offices
Preceded by
Sir Henry Lawson		 Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey
1914 – 1918		 Succeeded by
Sir Launcelot Kiggell
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