John Prettyjohns

He rallied the Marines, as Russian troops climbed the ridge.

John Prettyjohns was born at Dean Prior in Devon in 1823. An agricultural labourer, he enlisted in the Royal Marines at Plymouth in June 1844. He served at sea in HMS Melampus and later HMS Bellerophon, becoming a corporal in 1852. Bellerophon joined the Allied fleet in the Crimea, and he volunteered for the Marine battalion serving ashore.

At Inkermann on 5 November 1854, his party helped clear Russian marksmen from caves on the heights. With ammunition running short and more Russians approaching, Prettyjohns helped hold the position at close quarters. His recorded gallantry included shooting several enemy soldiers. Later accounts describe the Marines using stones to repel men climbing toward them when cartridges were nearly exhausted. His conduct earned the Victoria Cross, the first won by a Royal Marine.

He continued serving after the Crimea, becoming sergeant and then colour sergeant. In 1857 he sailed east, served briefly at Calcutta during the Indian uprising and returned to China. He took part in the capture of Canton that December, later serving in HMS Tribune on the Pacific coast of North America.

Prettyjohns retired on pension in June 1865 after twenty-one years. He and his wife Elizabeth, whom he had married in Plymouth, raised two daughters. He settled in the Manchester area and worked in civilian employment. He died at Chorlton-on-Medlock on 20 January 1887 and was buried with military honours in Manchester's Southern Cemetery.