- Frederick Hugh Sherston Roberts
Infobox Military Person
name=The Hon. Frederick Hugh Sherston Roberts
lived= birth date|1872|01|08|mf=y - death date and age|1899|12|17|1872|01|08|mf=y
caption=Hon. Frederick Hugh Sherston Roberts VC
nicknames=
placeofbirth=Umballa ,British India
placeofdeath=South Africa
allegiance=United Kingdom
branch=British Army
serviceyears=
rank=Lieutenant
unit=King's Royal Rifle Corps
commands=
battles=Second Boer War :
"Battle of Colenso "
awards=Victoria Cross Mention in dispatches
relations=Field Marshal Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts
laterwork=Frederick Hugh Sherston Roberts VC (
January 8 ,1872 -December 17 ,1899 ), son of the famous Victorian commanderField Marshal Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts , was born inUmballa ,India , and received theVictoria 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 attended
Eton College and joined the army soon after completing his studies. The son ofField Marshal Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts , one of the greatest commanders of the Victorian era, it was only natural that he should follow his father into theBritish Army . After joining the Army he was soon involved in action, fighting in theWarziristan Expedition in 1894 and 1895, where he wasmentioned in dispatches . He came to the attention of senior officers for his effective leadership. In 1898 he took part in theNile Expedition following which he was made alieutenant in theKing's Royal Rifle Corps . At the age of 27, Roberts went with the King's Rifles to theSouth African War , when the following deed took place for which he was awarded theVictoria Cross .On
15 December 1899 at theBattle of Colenso ,South Africa , Lieutenant Roberts, with several others, tried to save the guns of the 14th and 66th Batteries, Royal Field Artillery, when the detachments serving the guns had all become casualties or been driven from their guns. Some of the horses and drivers were sheltering in adonga about 500 yards behind the guns and the intervening space was swept with shell and rifle fire. Lieutenant Roberts with two other officers (Walter Norris Congreve andHarry Norton Schofield ) and CorporalGeorge Edward Nurse helped to hook a team into a limber and then to limber up a gun. While doing so, he fell badly wounded and two days later died of his wounds at Chieveley,Natal . Roberts was one of only three father-son pairs to win the VC, his father having won it in 1858 for an action atKhudaganj during theIndian rebellion .F.S.H. Robert's Victoria Cross is displayed at the
National Army Museum "(Chelsea, England)".References
*
Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross (Richard Doherty & David Truesdale, 2000)
*Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
*The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
*Scotland's Forgotten Valour (Graham Ross, 1995)
*Victoria Crosses of the Anglo-Boer War (Ian Uys, 2000)External links
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8543713 Location of his grave] "(South Africa)"
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