Post by ben on Aug 2, 2007 11:02:15 GMT
A Victoria Cross awarded to the late Lieutenant Herbert Stephen Henderson has been donated to the National Army Museum.
The Victoria Cross is Britain’s highest award for valour. Lt Henderson’s descendants, Mr A Henderson and Mr I Henderson, chose to donate their father’s VC to the London museum to enshrine his action in the nation’s memory. Lt Henderson’s granddaughter escorted the medal personally from South Africa.
“Victoria Crosses increasingly reach high sums at auction and it is now very rare to receive such an iconic object as a donation, which makes this donation all the more valuable.” said Lesley Smurthwaite, the curator responsible for the National Army Museum’s extensive medal collection. “Every VC is unique. This was awarded to Lt Henderson in 1896 during the Matabele Rebellion in Rhodesia, one of only three awarded during the campaign”.
On the morning of the 30 March 1896 Matabele warriors ambushed a patrol from the Bulawayo Field Force. Troopers Celliers and Henderson, who formed part of the advanced guard, were cut off from the main body and Celliers was shot in the knee. Celliers’ horse was badly wounded, leaving the injured man without a mount.
Henderson selflessly placed Celliers on his own horse, although this would slow down his own mount, and the two men made for Bulawayo.
Celliers, in agony and weak from loss of blood, begged Henderson to leave him behind and save himself, but Henderson refused to abandon his comrade.
The two men, travelling mainly at night to avoid marauding warriors, covered the 35 miles to safety in two days and one night. Henderson’s 26th birthday fell during their ordeal and it has been recorded that he commented that he hoped that future birthdays would not be ‘celebrated’ in the same manner.
Lt Henderson was commended for his actions and decorated with the Victoria Cross on 4 November 1897 by Sir Alfred Milner, High Commissioner for Southern Africa and Governor of the Cape Colony. -- www.national-army-museum.ac.uk
The Victoria Cross is Britain’s highest award for valour. Lt Henderson’s descendants, Mr A Henderson and Mr I Henderson, chose to donate their father’s VC to the London museum to enshrine his action in the nation’s memory. Lt Henderson’s granddaughter escorted the medal personally from South Africa.
“Victoria Crosses increasingly reach high sums at auction and it is now very rare to receive such an iconic object as a donation, which makes this donation all the more valuable.” said Lesley Smurthwaite, the curator responsible for the National Army Museum’s extensive medal collection. “Every VC is unique. This was awarded to Lt Henderson in 1896 during the Matabele Rebellion in Rhodesia, one of only three awarded during the campaign”.
On the morning of the 30 March 1896 Matabele warriors ambushed a patrol from the Bulawayo Field Force. Troopers Celliers and Henderson, who formed part of the advanced guard, were cut off from the main body and Celliers was shot in the knee. Celliers’ horse was badly wounded, leaving the injured man without a mount.
Henderson selflessly placed Celliers on his own horse, although this would slow down his own mount, and the two men made for Bulawayo.
Celliers, in agony and weak from loss of blood, begged Henderson to leave him behind and save himself, but Henderson refused to abandon his comrade.
The two men, travelling mainly at night to avoid marauding warriors, covered the 35 miles to safety in two days and one night. Henderson’s 26th birthday fell during their ordeal and it has been recorded that he commented that he hoped that future birthdays would not be ‘celebrated’ in the same manner.
Lt Henderson was commended for his actions and decorated with the Victoria Cross on 4 November 1897 by Sir Alfred Milner, High Commissioner for Southern Africa and Governor of the Cape Colony. -- www.national-army-museum.ac.uk