Henry Ward (VC)

He guarded wounded men and brought their bearers under fire.

Henry Ward was born at Harleston, Norfolk, in 1823. He enlisted in the 78th Highlanders in 1845 and served with the regiment during the Persian campaign and the Indian uprising. By September 1857 he was a private in the force advancing to relieve the Lucknow Residency.

On the night of 25 September, part of the column halted while heavy guns and wounded men struggled to catch up. Ward was assigned to protect Captain Henry Marshman Havelock, whose arm had been shattered. The officer lay in a covered litter, unable to defend himself. Ward remained with him throughout the night.

The following morning he arranged bearers for Havelock and another wounded Highlander, Thomas Pilkington. As the party tried to reach the Residency, heavy fire threatened to scatter the bearers and leave both men behind. Ward kept them moving through the exposed streets and brought the casualties safely inside. His Victoria Cross recognized the devotion and exertion with which he protected them and prevented the bearers from abandoning their litters.

Havelock appointed Ward his personal servant, and Ward later rose to quartermaster-sergeant. His active career continued until he left the Army in 1865. The campaign medals he wore alongside his cross recorded Persian service and the prolonged operations around Lucknow.

Civilian life proved difficult. Ward died at Great Malvern on 12 September 1867, only two years after leaving the service, and was initially buried in a pauper’s grave. When Havelock learned what had happened, he paid for a substantial headstone in recognition of the man who had protected him. Ward’s grave was restored again in the twenty-first century, while his surviving medals entered the Highlanders’ regimental museum collection at Fort George.