Thomas Flawn

Thomas Flawn VC

Thomas Flawn was awarded the Victoria Cross for his gallantry on 28 November 1879 during the attack on Sekukuni’s Town, South Africa. Lieutenant Dewar of the 1st Dragoon Guards had been badly wounded and was unable to move without help. When a group of enemy fighters appeared in pursuit, the men of the Native Contingent who had been helping to carry him fled, leaving Dewar in grave danger.

Privates Thomas Flawn and Francis Fitzpatrick refused to abandon him. The two men alternated between carrying Dewar and covering the retreat with rifle fire, holding off the enemy and saving the wounded officer from almost certain death.

Flawn’s Victoria Cross was gazetted on 23 February 1880, and he was presented with the medal alongside Fitzpatrick on 17 September 1880 in the Transvaal by Lieutenant-Colonel P. R. Anstruther. He remained in South Africa during the First Boer War of 1881 before returning to England in 1882 and later leaving the Army.

Flawn married twice and spent his later years in England. He died on 19 January 1925 at Plumstead, London, aged 67, and was buried in Plumstead Cemetery. His medals were sold at Sotheby’s in London in November 1999 for a hammer price of £70,000; the buyer remains unknown.