James Bergin

James Bergin VC (29 June, 1845 – 1 December,1880), born in Killbriken, Queens County, Ireland, 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.

Details

He was 22 years old, and a private in the 33rd Regiment or Duke of Wellington's Regiment (named thus in June 1853, the year after the death of the Duke), British Army during the Abyssinia Expedition when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 13 April 1868 in Abyssinia (now Ethiopia), during the assault on Magdala, when the head of the column of attack was checked by the obstacles at the gate, a small stream of officers and men of the 33rd Regiment and an officer the Royal Engineers broke away from the main approach to Magdala, and, reaching the defences, climbed a cliff, forced their way over a wall and through a strong and thorny fence, thus turning the defenders of the gateway. The first two men to enter Magdala were Private Bergin and a Drummer (Michael Magner). He died at Poona India, 1 December 1880.

The medal

His Victoria Cross is displayed in the Duke of Wellington's Regimental Museum See:- [http://www.dwr.org.uk/dwr.php?id=54&pa=97 Duke of Wellington's Regimental Website] "(Halifax, West Yorkshire, England)".

References

Listed in order of publication year
*The Register of the Victoria Cross (1981, 1988 and 1997)
*The Irish Sword (Brian Clarke 1986)
*Irelands VCs (Dept of Economic Development 1995)
*Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
*Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross (Richard Doherty & David Truesdale, 2000)