John McDermond

He defended his wounded colonel against surrounding Russians

John McDermond was probably born in Clackmannan, Scotland, in 1828. He enlisted in the 47th Regiment at Glasgow in October 1846 and served in the Ionian Islands before deployment to Turkey. The regiment reached the Crimea in September 1854, and he fought at the Alma and Inkerman.

On 5 November 1854 at Inkerman, Lieutenant Colonel O’Grady Haly was wounded and surrounded during a charge. McDermond rushed to his aid, killed the Russian soldier who had disabled him and helped protect his fallen commanding officer while he was brought back to the British line.

His Victoria Cross was gazetted on 24 February 1857 and presented by Major General Sir James Scarlett at Southsea on 12 March 1858. An 1858 photograph shows him wearing the VC, three-clasp Crimea Medal and French Médaille militaire.

McDermond later served in Malta, Gibraltar and Canada. An accident while travelling to Canada damaged his ankle, and he was medically discharged in 1862. Sources disagree over his exact death date and burial, so neither is asserted here. His VC’s whereabouts remain uncertain; a Thames-found cross has not been securely attributed to him.

Official Victoria Cross citation

For saving the life of Colonel Haly, on the 5 th November, 1854, by his intrepid conduct in rushing up to his rescue when lying on the ground disabled, and surrounded by a party of Russians, and killing the man who had disabled him.