Alfred Ernest Ind

Kept His Gun Firing After the Rest of Its Crew Fell.

Alfred Ernest Ind VC was a Royal Horse Artillery shoeing smith who earned the Victoria Cross during the Second Boer War. Born at Highfield Farm in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, on 16 September 1872, he was the son of George and Mary Ind. By the 1881 census, his family lived at Chipping Hill in the town.

His trade supported the Army's horse-drawn artillery, maintaining horses' hooves alongside the farriers. In South Africa, he served with the 11th Section Pompoms, whose automatic guns took their nickname from the sound of their firing.

On 20 December 1901, near Tafelkop in the Orange River Colony, Ind's section faced advancing Boer troops under intense fire. The rest of his gun team were shot down. Ind remained at the weapon and continued firing until the last possible moment. Captain Jeffcoat, mortally wounded in the same action, specifically asked that Ind's conduct be recognised. The recommendation praised both his stand at Tafelkop and his behaviour in earlier actions with the section.

Official Victoria Cross citation, The London Gazette, 15 August 1902:

“During the action near Tafelkop, Orange River Colony, on the 20th December, 1901, Shoeing-Smith A. E. Ind, 11th Section Pompoms, stuck to his gun under a very heavy fire when the whole of the remainder of the pompom team had been shot down, and continued to fire into the advancing Boers till the last possible moment. Captain Jeffcoat, who was mortally wounded on this occasion, requested that Shoeing-Smith Ind's gallant conduct in this and in every other action since he joined the Pompom Section should be brought to notice.”

Tetbury celebrated Ind's return from South Africa with a dinner in November 1902. He received his Victoria Cross from King Edward VII at Buckingham Palace that month. After leaving the Army in 1911, he worked for the Duke of Westminster at Eaton Hall near Chester.

Ind died on 29 November 1916, aged 44, and was buried in St Mary's churchyard at Eccleston, Cheshire. Memorials in St Mary's Church and its primary school in Tetbury preserve his connection with his birthplace. His Victoria Cross commemorates an artilleryman's determination to keep serving his gun after the loss of its crew.