William Napier

Under fire near Azamgarh, he carried a wounded comrade away.

William Napier enlisted in the 13th Regiment of Foot at Leeds in 1846. He served at Gibraltar and in the Crimean War before his regiment went to India during the rebellion. In Crimea, his service included the siege of Sevastopol.

On 6 April 1858 near Azamgarh, Sergeant Napier remained beside the badly wounded Private Benjamin Milnes while hostile forces surrounded them. He dressed Milnes’s wounds under fire and carried him to the safety of the convoy. The rescue earned Napier the Victoria Cross. The award appeared in The London Gazette of 24 December 1858, issue 22212, page 5517.

Napier later became colour sergeant and sergeant major before leaving the Army in 1862. He emigrated to Australia in 1863, worked as a clerk and miner, and later made cordials at Rochester, Victoria. He died there on 2 June 1908.