William Thomas Rickard

On the night of October 11, 1855, a small landing party from the paddle gunvessel HMS Weser slipped into the shallow lagoons of the Sivash along the eastern coast of the Crimean peninsula. Their objective was a major Russian supply depot near the mouth of the Salghair River, where approximately four hundred tons of corn and forage lay stacked for transport to the garrison at Sebastopol. Lieutenant John Edmund Commerell had called for volunteers to cross the narrow Spit of Arabat under cover of darkness, a strip of land patrolled by Cossacks. Quartermaster William Thomas Rickard was the first seaman to step forward, accompanied by Able Seaman George Milestone and two additional crewmen.

Dragging a small boat two hundred yards across the sandbar, the party launched into the shallow waters of the Sivash. Leaving two sailors to guard the craft, Commerell, Rickard, and Milestone waded through canals filled neck-deep with water and traversed two miles of mudflats using a hand compass. Reaching the store site at dawn, they set fire to the grain stacks near a Cossack guard post and signal station. The dry fodder ignited instantly, alerting the guard post, which opened rifle fire and gave chase.

During the retreat across the mudflats, Milestone collapsed from fatigue and sank into the silt, unable to free himself as mounted soldiers and infantry closed to within thirty yards while keeping up heavy fire. Despite his own exhaustion, Rickard turned back into the line of fire, hauled Milestone out of the mud, and supported him across the flinging silt while covering fire was opened from the guard boat. The raiders reached their craft and returned to HMS Weser as lookouts reported the total destruction of the grain stores.

Rickard had entered the Royal Navy eleven years earlier, joining in February 1844 as a Boy Second Class aboard HMS Star. Born in Stoke Damerel near Devonport on February 10, 1828, his initial training led to active duty on the West Africa Station aboard HMS Britomart. Assigned to anti-slavery patrols along the coast, his tour ended when a gunshot wound to his right foot required medical evacuation home. Following recovery, he returned to sea as an Able Seaman aboard the frigate HMS Arethusa, deploying to the Black Sea upon the outbreak of hostilities with Russia.

Aboard Arethusa, Rickard saw action during the naval bombardments of Sebastopol and shore operations at the Alma and Inkerman. His appointment as Quartermaster aboard HMS Weser in January 1855 placed him in the Sea of Azov, where British gunboats disrupted Russian lines of communication and supply.

For his conduct during the Sivash raid, Rickard was awarded the Victoria Cross, announced in the London Gazette in February 1857. Because he was serving overseas, his cross was presented on board HMS Weser by Commodore Johnstone later that year. His awards for the campaign included the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal, the French Knight of the Legion of Honour, the Crimea Medal with clasps for Inkermann, Sebastopol, and Azoff, and the Turkish Crimea Medal.

Following his naval service, Rickard joined Her Majesty's Coastguard, serving at Robin Hood's Bay and aboard station vessels including HMS Cornwallis, Dauntless, Wivern, Invincible, and Audacious. He advanced through the ranks to Commissioned Boatman in 1867, Chief Boatman in 1869, and Chief Officer of Coastguards on the Isle of Wight in 1873. Having married Rebecca Whittingham in June 1860, the couple raised their family at Arethusa Cottage in Ryde, a residence named after his former frigate. After retiring from coastal service in 1883 with a Greenwich Hospital pension, he acted as boatman for the Ryde Rowing Club until his death on February 21, 1905, at the age of 77.

"Accompanied his Commander, Lieutenant Commerell, of the 'Weser,' to the Crimean shore of the Sivash, and, whilst under a heavy fire of musketry, remained to assist George Milestone, who had fallen."

— Despatch from Admiral Lord Lyons, 6 November 1855 (London Gazette, 24 February 1857)