Andrew Henry

He fought to save his guns despite repeated bayonet attacks.

Andrew Henry served in the Royal Artillery and was a sergeant major during the Crimean War. At Inkermann on 5 November 1854, Russian infantry threatened his battery. He remained in the fight to defend its guns despite repeated bayonet wounds, an action subsequently recognized with the Victoria Cross.

The wounds did not end his service. He received a commission in the Land Transport Corps in May 1855 and became second captain that November. His Victoria Cross was gazetted on 24 February 1857, and Queen Victoria decorated him at the first general VC investiture in Hyde Park on 26 June.

Henry became a captain in the Royal Artillery in 1859 and transferred to the Coast Brigade the following year. He spent much of his later service in the Western District and commanded a division of the Coast Brigade. He died suddenly at Plymouth on 14 October 1870 and was buried with military honours in what is now Ford Park Cemetery. His surviving medal group is associated with the Royal Artillery collection.