John Ryan VC (1839 – 29 December 1863) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

soldier and an Irish 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 award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

forces.

Early life

Ryan was born in

Borrisoleigh Borrisoleigh () is a small town in County Tipperary, Ireland. At the 2016 census, it had a population of 679. In recent years the population has exceeded 1,000 while historically the population has been around 8,000. It is in the ecclesiastical ...

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

in 1839.

Victoria Cross

Ryan was about 24 years old, and a

lance corporal Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organisations. It is below the rank of corporal, and is typically the lowest non-commissioned officer (NCO), usually equi ...

in the 65th Regiment of Foot (later the 1st Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment), during the

Invasion of Waikato The Invasion of the Waikato became the largest and most important campaign of the 19th-century New Zealand Wars. Hostilities took place in the North Island of New Zealand between the military forces of the colonial government and a federation ...

(one of the campaigns in the

New Zealand Wars The New Zealand Wars took place from 1845 to 1872 between the New Zealand colonial government and allied Māori on one side and Māori and Māori-allied settlers on the other. They were previously commonly referred to as the Land Wars or the M ...

), when the following deed took place on 7 September 1863, for which he was awarded the VC. Ryan died at

Tuakau Tuakau ( mi, Tūākau) is a town in the Waikato region at the foot of Bombay hills, formerly part of the Franklin district until 2010, when it became part of Waikato District in the North Island of New Zealand. The town serves to support local fa ...

, New Zealand, on 29 December 1863, before he received the medal. He drowned while trying to save a drunken comrade in the

Waikato River The Waikato River is the longest river in New Zealand, running for through the North Island. It rises on the eastern slopes of Mount Ruapehu, joining the Tongariro River system and flowing through Lake Taupō, New Zealand's largest lake. It th ...

The medal

His Victoria Cross is displayed at The York & Lancaster Regiment Museum ''(Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England)''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, John Irish recipients of the Victoria Cross York and Lancaster Regiment soldiers 1839 births 1863 deaths 19th-century Irish people Irish soldiers in the British Army People from County Tipperary British military personnel of the New Zealand Wars New Zealand Wars recipients of the Victoria Cross Deaths by drowning in New Zealand Accidental deaths in New Zealand British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross Military personnel from County Tipperary