Bernard Diamond (VC)
Bernard Diamond | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | January 1827 Portglenone, County Antrim |
| Died | 24 January 1892 (aged 65) Masterton, New Zealand |
| Buried | Masterton Cemetery |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service | Bengal Army |
| Rank | Sergeant |
| Unit | Bengal Horse Artillery |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Victoria Cross |
Bernard Diamond VC (January 1827 – 24 January 1892) in Portglenone, County Antrim, Ireland was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Details
He was approximately 30 years old, and a sergeant in the Bengal Horse Artillery, Bengal Army during the Indian Mutiny when the following deed took place on 28 September 1857 at Bolandshahr, India for which he and Gunner Richard Fitzgerald was awarded the Victoria Cross:
"For an act of valour performed in action against the rebels and mutineers at Boolundshur, on the 28th September, 1857, when these two soldiers evinced the most determined bravery in working their gun under a very heavy fire of musketry, whereby they cleared the road of the enemy, after every other man belonging to it had been either killed or disabled by wounds. (Despatch of Major Turner, Bengal Horse Artillery, dated Boolundshur, 2 October 1857.)[1]
Further information
He died in Masterton, New Zealand on 24 January 1892[2] after emigrating, and was buried at the Archer Street Cemetery.[3]
The medal
His Victoria Cross is displayed at the QEII Army Memorial Museum in Waiouru, New Zealand.
References
- ^ London Gazette
- ^ "Death of a veteran". The Sun. 25 January 1892. p. 3. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
- ^ "Cemetery search". Masterton District Council. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
Listed in order of publication year
- The Register of the Victoria Cross (1981, 1988 and 1997)
- Clarke, Brian D. H. (1986). "A register of awards to Irish-born officers and men". The Irish Sword. XVI (64): 185–287.
- Ireland's VCs (Dept of Economic Development, 1995)
- Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
- Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross (Richard Doherty & David Truesdale, 2000)
External links
- DerryJournal:Bernard Diamond – Portglenone's VC winner
- "Bernard Diamond". Find a Grave. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
- 1827 births
- 1892 deaths
- 19th-century Irish people
- Irish recipients of the Victoria Cross
- British East India Company Army soldiers
- People from Portglenone
- Indian Rebellion of 1857 recipients of the Victoria Cross
- Irish emigrants to New Zealand (before 1923)
- British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Sikh War
- Burials at Archer Street Cemetery