Thomas Beach VC (24 January 1824 – 24 August 1864) 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 a Scottish 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. Beach suffered from severe alcoholism later in life. He died due to his alcoholism at the age of 40.

Military service

Beach joined the

at the age of sixteen, being assigned to the

92nd Regiment of Foot The 92nd (Gordon Highlanders) Regiment of Foot was a British Army infantry regiment, raised in 1794. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 75th (Stirlingshire) Regiment of Foot to form the Gordon Highlanders in 1881. History Forma ...

(

Gordon Highlanders Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

) on 30 April 1840. He was posted to a variety of locations, including the West Indies and the Greek Isles. When the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

broke out in 1854, his regiment was posted to

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

as a garrison force. Beach volunteered to be seconded to another unit which was going to Crimea, and he was placed with the 55th Regiment of Foot. It was in Crimea that he conducted himself in a manner that would later result in him being awarded the

for gallantry in the face of the enemy. His medal citation reads: Although the official citation does not specify the exact number of opposing soldiers, Beach held off and fought a total of 5 Russians, with 2 of the opposing side killed. It was the first Victoria Cross to be awarded to a member of the regiment. Alongside Major

Frederick Cockayne Elton Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Cockayne Elton VC (23 April 1832 – 24 March 1888) 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 an ...

, Beach was presented with the VC by General Ferguson on 20 July 1857. In addition to the Victoria Cross, during his time in the military he was awarded two good conduct medals. However he was also placed 21 times in the regimental defaulters book and was twice tried by court martial. The 1861 census of England, Wales and Scotland placed him living in

Perth, Scotland Perth (Scottish English, locally: ; gd, Peairt ) is a city in central Scotland, on the banks of the River Tay. It is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire. It had a population o ...

Later life and legacy

After leaving the army in June 1863 following 23 years of service, including seven and a half years overseas, he became a railway labourer. Less than a year later he had died from the effects of alcohol poisoning in the

Dundee Royal Infirmary Dundee Royal Infirmary, often shortened to DRI, was a major teaching hospital in Dundee, Scotland. Until the opening of Ninewells Hospital in 1974, Dundee Royal Infirmary was Dundee's main hospital. It was closed in 1998, after 200 years of opera ...

. Beach was buried in a

pauper's grave A potter's field, paupers' grave or common grave is a place for the burial of unknown, unclaimed or indigent people. "Potter's field" is of Biblical origin, referring to Akeldama (meaning ''field of blood'' in Aramaic), stated to have been p ...

somewhere in the Eastern Necropolis in Dundee. The exact location of the burial is unknown due to the number of mass graves in that area. On 17 May 2003, a bench dedicated to him was placed in Necropolis, alongside a bench devoted to fellow Victoria Cross holder Peter Grant, who is also buried somewhere in the area in a similar grave. On 20 October 2006, a $1.50 stamp was issued in

Kiribati Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),Kiribati
''The Wor ...

commemorating Beach's Victoria Cross action. A drawing of it which had previously appeared in the ''

Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication in ...

'' was used. His medal is held at the Sheesh Mahal fort in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

, Pakistan. It forms part of a collection which was gathered by

Bhupinder Singh of Patiala Maharaja Sir Bhupinder Singh, (12 October 1891 – 23 March 1938) was an Indian royal and cricket player. He was the ruling Maharaja of Patiala, Maharaja of the princely state of Patiala State, Patiala in British India from 1900 to 1938. Bio ...

during the 1920s.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beach, Thomas 1824 births 1864 deaths Military personnel from Dundee British recipients of the Victoria Cross British Army personnel of the Crimean War Crimean War recipients of the Victoria Cross Border Regiment soldiers Gordon Highlanders soldiers British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross Drug-related deaths in Scotland Burials in Scotland