General Sir Mark Walker

At Inkerman, an officer leapt toward two Russian battalions.

Born on 24 November 1827 at Gore Port, Finea, County Westmeath, Ireland, Mark Walker entered the 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot as an ensign in 1846. He was wounded at the Alma during the Crimean War. At Inkerman on 5 November 1854, he vaulted the wall sheltering his men and led a counterattack against two advancing Russian battalions. This action earned him the Victoria Cross, announced in the London Gazette on 4 June 1858 (issue 22149, page 2756). He was a lieutenant and adjutant at the action; the Gazette later styled him brevet major.

Walker continued through the siege of Sevastopol. He led volunteers in an attack on a Russian rifle pit on 21 April 1855 and was mentioned in despatches. A shell shattered his right elbow in June 1855, and his right arm was amputated. His own campaign journal records the wound.

He later served with the 3rd (The East Kent) Regiment of Foot, the Buffs, and as a brigade major in the Second Opium War, including operations at Sinho and the Taku Forts. His Crimea Medal bore clasps for Alma, Inkermann and Sebastopol; his China Medal bore clasps for Taku Forts 1860 and Pekin 1860. His other honours included the Turkish Crimea Medal and the Ottoman Order of the Medjidie, Fifth Class. Appointed Companion of the Bath in 1875, he became Knight Commander in 1893.

Walker reached the rank of General in February 1893 and retired that April. He died at Arlington Rectory near Barnstaple, Devon, on 18 July 1902 and was buried at Cheriton Road Cemetery, Folkestone. His Victoria Cross and campaign medals are held by the National Army Museum.