Richard Ridgeway

Richard Ridgeway
Born	(1848-08-18)18 August 1848 Oldcastle, County Meath, Ireland
Died	11 October 1924(1924-10-11) (aged 76) Harrogate, Yorkshire, England
Buried	Lawnswood crematorium, Leeds, Yorkshire
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	British Indian Army
Rank	Colonel
Awards	Victoria Cross Order of the Bath

Colonel Richard Kirby Ridgeway VC CB (18 August 1848 – 11 October 1924) was an Irish 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.

Biography

Ridgeway was born on 18 August 1848 in Oldcastle, County Meath, Ireland.

On 22 November 1879, he was 31 years old, and a captain in the Bengal Staff Corps, 44th Gurkha Rifles (later 1/8th Gurkha Rifles), British Indian Army, during the Naga Hills Expedition. On that date, during the final assault on Konoma, Eastern Frontier of India, under heavy fire from the enemy, Captain Ridgeway rushed up to a barricade and attempted to tear down the planking surrounding it to enable him to effect an entrance. While doing this he was wounded severely in the right shoulder.

He later achieved the rank of colonel.

He died at the age of 76 in Harrogate, Yorkshire on 11 October 1924.

See also

• List of Brigade of Gurkhas recipients of the Victoria Cross

Notes and references

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 ISBN 1-899243-00-3 (Dept of Economic Development, 1995)
• Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
• Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross (Richard Doherty & David Truesdale, 2000)

External links

• Location of grave and VC medal (West Yorkshire)
• Richard Ridgeway at Find a Grave