John Peniston Milbanke

Lieutenant-Colonel Sir John Peniston Milbanke, 10th Baronet VC (9 October 1872- 21 August 1915) was an English 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.

He was 27 years old, and a lieutenant in the 10th Hussars, British Army during the South African War (Boer War) when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On the 5 January 1900, during a reconnaissance near Colesberg, South Africa, Sir John Milbanke, when retiring under fire with a small patrol of the 10th Hussars, notwithstanding the fact that he had just been severely wounded in the thigh, rode back to the assistance of one of the men whose pony was exhausted, and who was under fire from some Boers who had dismounted. Sir John Milbanke took the man up on his own horse under a most galling fire and brought him safely back to camp.

In 1914, having retired from the Regular Army, he became Lieutenant-Colonel of the Sherwood Rangers. He was killed in action at Suvla, Gallipoli, Turkey, on 21 August 1915.

His Victoria Cross is displayed at the The King's Royal Hussars Museum in Winchester "(Winchester, England)".

References

* [http://www.angloboerwar.com/VC/milbanke_j.htm Profile]
*Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
*The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
*Victoria Crosses of the Anglo-Boer War (Ian Uys, 2000)