Major George Murray Rolland VC (12 May 1869 – 9 July 1910) was a recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and

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forces.

Early life

He was born on 12 May 1869 at

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, Madra Presidency, British India, the son of Major P. M. Rolland, R.A. and educated at Harrow and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry a ...

, before being commissioned into the

Bedfordshire Regiment The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment was the final title of a Line infantry, line infantry regiment of the British Army that was originally formed in 1688. After centuries of service in many conflicts and wars, including both the World War ...

in November 1889. He transferred to the Indian Staff Corps on the 11 August 1891. He was appointed a double company commander with the 1st Bombay Grenadiers on 4 February 1901, and appointed a Special Service Officer on the Staff of the Somaliland Field Force on 25 October 1902, leaving Bombay via

Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...

for

British Somaliland British Somaliland, officially the Somaliland Protectorate ( so, Dhulka Maxmiyada Soomaalida ee Biritishka), was a British Empire, British protectorate in present-day Somaliland. During its existence, the territory was bordered by Italian Soma ...

the previous day.

Details

He was 33 years old, and a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the 1st Bombay Grenadiers,

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

, employed Berbera -Bohotle Flying Column during the Third Somaliland Expedition when on 22 April 1903 after the action at

, the rearguard got considerably behind the rest of the column. Captain Rolland and

William George Walker Major General William George Walker (28 May 1863 – 16 February 1936) was a senior British Army officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross. Details Walker was 39 years old, and a captain in the 4th Gurkha Rifles, Indian Army, attached to t ...

, with four other men were with a fellow officer when he fell badly wounded and Captain Rolland ran back some 500 yards to get help while the others stayed with the casualty, endeavouring to keep off the enemy who were all round. This they succeeded in doing, and when the officer in charge of the column (

John Edmund Gough Sir John Edmond Gough (25 October 1871 – 22 February 1915), was an early 20th century British Army General, and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Com ...

) arrived they managed to get the wounded man on to a camel. He was, however, hit again and died immediately. His VC is on display at the Lord Ashcroft Galley in the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

in London.

Later life

In November 1906, he was appointed the Adjutant of the Nagpur Volunteer Rifles, with whom he was serving when he died from a fall. He achieved the rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

, being promoted 9 November 1907. Recently his grave was discovered in Nagpur in routine cleaning exercise.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rolland, George Murray British recipients of the Victoria Cross Indian Staff Corps officers 1869 births 1910 deaths British military personnel of the Third Somaliland Expedition Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst People educated at Harrow School Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment officers British Indian Army officers Military personnel of British India British people in colonial India People from the Madras Presidency