John Joseph Sims

He left the trenches to bring wounded comrades in under fire

John Joseph Sims was born in Bloomsbury, London, about 1835. His father, a coach builder, died while he was young. Sims worked as a labourer before enlisting in the 34th Regiment of Foot in January 1854. The regiment subsequently went to the Crimean War.

On 18 June 1855, following the unsuccessful assault on the Redan at Sevastopol, British troops had fallen back to their trenches. Wounded men remained exposed on the ground between the opposing positions. In daylight and under continuing fire, Sims went out from the British lines and brought wounded soldiers back. His willingness to re-enter that exposed ground earned the Victoria Cross.

Queen Victoria presented his medal at Hyde Park on 26 June 1857. He had already left the Army that March, obtaining his discharge on payment after a little more than three years of service. His campaign service was also recognized by the Crimea Medal with the Sebastopol clasp and the Turkish Crimea Medal.

Sims settled in London and married Victoria Jane Little in 1858. He worked in clerical employment, but his later years were marked by poverty and illness. He died of tuberculosis in the City of London Union workhouse at Thavies Inn on 6 December 1881. He was buried in a common grave in the City of London Cemetery. A memorial plaque was placed over the known burial location in 2003.

Official Victoria Cross citation

For having, on the 18th June, 1855, after the Regiment had retired into the trenches from the assault on the Redan, gone out into the open ground, under a heavy fire, in broad daylight, and brought in wounded soldiers outside the trenches.