Francis Fitzpatrick

Thirty enemy warriors were closing in. A British officer lay badly wounded, unable to escape. Most of those helping him had fled, but two young soldiers refused to abandon him. One carried the officer while the other fired at their pursuers. Among them was Private Francis Fitzpatrick, an Irish-born British Army soldier whose extraordinary courage on 28 November 1879 would earn him the Victoria Cross, Britain's highest military award for gallantry in the presence of the enemy.

Born in 1859 in Clontibret, County Monaghan, Ireland, Francis Fitzpatrick enlisted in the British Army at Newry in 1876, joining the 94th Regiment of Foot at approximately 17 years of age. His military career would take him from Ireland to the battlefields of southern Africa, where he experienced some of the most turbulent colonial conflicts of the late nineteenth century.

Fitzpatrick served during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 before his regiment joined British operations against the Pedi ruler Sekukuni in the eastern Transvaal. On 28 November 1879, British troops assaulted Sekukuni's stronghold, encountering fierce resistance. During the fighting, Second Lieutenant James Dewar of the 1st King's Dragoon Guards was severely wounded and unable to move without assistance.

What happened next would transform Francis Fitzpatrick's life forever.

As Dewar was being evacuated, approximately thirty enemy fighters pursued the small party attempting to save him. The accompanying men of the Native Contingent fled, leaving Fitzpatrick and fellow Private Thomas Flawn alone with the wounded officer. Rather than abandon Dewar, the two soldiers stood their ground. They alternated between carrying the helpless lieutenant and firing their weapons to hold back their pursuers. Exposed to danger throughout the retreat, they continued until Dewar had been brought to safety.

For their extraordinary gallantry, Francis Fitzpatrick and Thomas Flawn were both awarded the Victoria Cross. Their actions were recognised in the London Gazette in February 1880, and they received their decorations from Lieutenant-Colonel Philip Anstruther on 17 September that year. Fitzpatrick was only twenty years old when he carried out the deed that secured his place in military history.

But his story of courage and survival was far from over.

On 20 December 1880, during the First Boer War, Fitzpatrick was serving with the 94th Regiment when Boer forces attacked the British column near Bronkhorstspruit. The engagement became a devastating defeat for the regiment. Fitzpatrick was wounded and captured, remaining a prisoner until the conflict ended in March 1881. During the battle, while he lay unconscious, his Victoria Cross and South Africa Medal disappeared.

The loss of his decorations introduced another extraordinary chapter into his life. The War Office subsequently issued replacement medals, allowing Fitzpatrick to continue wearing the honours he had earned through his military service.

After returning from South Africa, Fitzpatrick continued his military career before eventually leaving the Army in 1888. He later worked in Malta and Scotland. Yet when the Second Boer War began in 1899, he answered the call to serve again, re-enlisting in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and returning to South Africa.

His second period of Boer War service earned him the Queen's South Africa Medal with the Cape Colony and South Africa 1902 clasps. His military decorations represented service across several conflicts, including the Anglo-Zulu War, the campaign against Sekukuni, and both Boer Wars. Following his final departure from military service, he worked as a General Post Office doorkeeper in Glasgow, continuing to wear his medals with pride.

Fitzpatrick died in 1933 and was buried at St Kentigern's Cemetery in Glasgow. Yet the remarkable story of his decorations continued long after his death. His original Victoria Cross and South Africa Medal had passed into a separate collection from his replacement medals and original Queen's South Africa Medal. After more than a century of separation, the two groups were eventually reunited at the National Army Museum, preserving an extraordinary piece of British military history.

Today, Francis Fitzpatrick VC is remembered not simply as a decorated British Army soldier, but as a man whose courage was tested repeatedly through battle, injury, captivity and hardship.

His greatest achievement was not the decoration he received. It was the decision he made on 28 November 1879, when abandoning a wounded comrade might have saved his own life.

At a moment when the enemy was closing in and survival was uncertain, Francis Fitzpatrick chose to remain.

That decision made him a Victoria Cross hero and ensured that his name would endure as a lasting example of courage, loyalty and selfless service.