Alexander Thompson

42nd Regiment of Foot, The Black Watch Some acts of courage last only a few minutes, yet they can define an entire life. Alexander Thompson VC was a Scottish soldier of the 42nd Regiment of Foot, The Black Watch, whose service carried him from the battlefields of the Crimean War to the brutal fighting of the Indian Mutiny. It was at Fort Ruhya on 15 April 1858, under intense enemy fire, that Thompson performed the act of gallantry for which his name would enter the history of the Victoria Cross. theblackwatch.co.uk - The Black Watch Born in Edinburgh in about 1824, Thompson enlisted in the 42nd Regiment in 1842. His military career eventually took him to the Crimea, where the Black Watch fought through some of the most famous actions of the war. Thompson was present at the Battle of Alma, the Battle of Balaklava, and the Siege of Sebastopol. His service in these campaigns is reflected in his Crimea Medal 1854-56 with the clasps Alma, Balaklava and Sebastopol, together with the Turkish Crimea Medal. His surviving medal group confirms these campaign distinctions. Spink Yet Thompson's greatest test came not in Crimea, but in India. During the attack on Fort Ruhya on 15 April 1858, Thompson was serving as a lance-corporal. Lieutenant Willoughby of the 4th Punjab Rifles had fallen in an exceptionally exposed position near the fort. Thompson volunteered to assist Captain William Martin Cafe, commanding the 4th Punjab Rifles, in recovering Willoughby's body from the glacis while subjected to heavy enemy fire. The official Black Watch account describes Thompson's conduct as "daring gallantry", emphasizing that he voluntarily entered a dangerously exposed position to help bring the fallen officer in. theblackwatch.co.uk - The Black Watch That act earned Lance-Corporal Alexander Thompson the Victoria Cross. His award was published in the London Gazette on 27 May 1859. The original notification mistakenly named "Captain Groves" as the officer Thompson assisted. The error was formally corrected in the London Gazette on 21 October 1859, directing readers to substitute Captain Cafe, commanding the 4th Punjab Rifles. The correction matters because it preserves the historical identity of the men involved in Thompson's VC action. The Gazette Thompson's Indian campaign service did not end with the action at Ruhya. His entitlement included the Indian Mutiny Medal 1857-58 with the clasp Lucknow, confirming his participation in the campaign associated with the final operations around Lucknow. His complete recorded medal group consists of the Victoria Cross, Crimea Medal with three clasps, Indian Mutiny Medal with the Lucknow clasp, and Turkish Crimea Medal. An attributed miniature group recorded by Spink gives precisely this four-award combination and states that Thompson's full-size Victoria Cross and campaign medals are held by the Black Watch Regimental Museum in Perth. Spink His bravery did not instantly remove the ordinary realities of a Victorian soldier's career. Thompson continued serving after Ruhya, later reaching the rank of Sergeant. Research based on his service history records a career containing promotions, reductions and eventual advancement back to sergeant, before his discharge on medical grounds in 1863. His Victoria Cross was presented at Bareilly on 7 April 1860, an extraordinary moment for a soldier who only two years earlier had risked his life beneath the guns of Fort Ruhya. Mutiny Reflections Alexander Thompson died in Perth, Scotland, on 29 March 1880 and was buried in Wellshill Cemetery. His life had taken him from Edinburgh to two major imperial wars, through Alma, Balaklava, Sebastopol, Lucknow and finally Fort Ruhya, where one decision to volunteer under fire secured his place in military history. Wikipedia Today, Sergeant Alexander Thompson VC of the Black Watch is remembered not simply because he possessed Britain's highest award for battlefield gallantry, but because of the action behind it. At Fort Ruhya, with a wounded and fallen officer lying in an exposed position and enemy fire sweeping the ground, Thompson chose to go forward. That voluntary act of courage is the reason his name remains inseparable from the history of the Victoria Cross, the 42nd Regiment of Foot and the Black Watch.