Valentine Bambrick

Twice wounded, he fought off three attackers inside a serai.

Valentine Bambrick was born at Cawnpore, India, on 13 April 1837 into a British military family. His father served in the 11th Light Dragoons, later the 11th Hussars. His elder brother John also joined that regiment and took part in the Charge of the Light Brigade. Valentine followed a different regimental path, enlisting in the 1st Battalion, 60th Rifles, at sixteen.

The battalion served during the Indian uprising of 1857–1858. At Bareilly on 6 May 1858, Bambrick became involved in close fighting inside a serai, an enclosed lodging or courtyard building. His Victoria Cross citation states that three Ghazis attacked him, that he cut down one and that he was wounded twice. The decoration was announced in The London Gazette on 24 December 1858.

Bambrick received his Victoria Cross in 1859. When the 60th Rifles returned to Britain, he chose to remain in India and transferred to the 87th Royal Irish Fusiliers. His subsequent service brought him back to the British Isles. In November 1863, around the time of his discharge at Aldershot, an incident involving a commissariat sergeant, Henry Milner Russell, led to criminal charges.

The surviving court account records an accusation of assault and theft of four medals. Bambrick maintained that the confrontation arose while he was intervening on behalf of a woman. The prosecution secured a conviction at Winchester in December 1863, and he received a three-year sentence. Later accounts questioned the fairness of the proceedings, but those doubts should be distinguished from the documented verdict.

He was imprisoned at Pentonville and forfeited the Victoria Cross under the warrant then in force. He died by suicide on 1 April 1864, aged twenty-six, and was buried in St Pancras and Islington Cemetery, East Finchley. His grave was originally unmarked.

A memorial plaque later commemorated him at the cemetery. His Victoria Cross and Indian Mutiny Medal recognize his service in India, although the whereabouts of the original awards are unknown.

Victoria Cross citation excerpt

“For conspicuous bravery on the 6th of May, 1858, at Bareilly, when in a serai, he was attacked by three Ghazees”.

Full citation: https://www.victoriacross.org.uk/bbbambri.htm