Sir William James Montgomery-Cuninghame, 9th Baronet

He stormed Russian rifle pits and held firm under heavy fire.

Sir William James Montgomery-Cuninghame, 9th Baronet VC, earned the Victoria Cross as a Lieutenant in the 1st Battalion, Rifle Brigade during the Crimean War. Born in Ayrshire on 20 May 1834 and educated at Harrow, he entered the British Army in 1853. His Crimean service included Alma, Balaklava, Inkermann and the siege of Sevastopol.

On 20 November 1854, near Sevastopol, Montgomery-Cuninghame and Lieutenant Claud Thomas Bourchier led an attack on Russian rifle pits. They drove out the defenders and helped hold the captured position against determined counterattacks. The London Gazette of 24 February 1857 announced their Victoria Crosses for this action. Queen Victoria presented his award at the first Victoria Cross investiture in Hyde Park on 26 June 1857.

His campaign service was recognised by the Crimea Medal with the Alma, Balaklava, Inkermann and Sebastopol clasps, the Ottoman Order of the Medjidie, Fifth Class, and the Turkish Crimea Medal.

After further regular Army service, including work as a musketry instructor, he retired in 1867. He later served in the Volunteer Force and held brigade command. References to him as a brigadier-general relate to that Volunteer Force appointment and are separate from his final recorded rank of Colonel.

He succeeded to the baronetcy in 1870 and represented Ayr Burghs in Parliament from 1874 to 1880. He died at Gunton, Suffolk, on 11 November 1897 and was buried at Kirkmichael, Ayrshire.