Thomas Lane VC (May 1836 – 12 April 1889) was an

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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

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and

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forces. He was born in

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, Ireland, in May 1836, and served throughout 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 ...

in the

47th Regiment of Foot The 47th (Lancashire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in Scotland in 1741. It served in North America during the Seven Years' War and American Revolutionary War and also fought during the Napoleonic Wars and ...

Military service

On 21 August 1860 at the

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, during the

Second China War The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Sino War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a colonial war lasting from 1856 to 1860, which pitted the British Empire and the French Emp ...

, Lane, then aged 24 and a

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in the

67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot The 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1756. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot to form the Hampshire Regiment (later the Roy ...

(later The Royal Hampshire Regiment), British Army and a Lieutenant

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of his regiment were awarded the Victoria Cross: He fought in the

Anglo-Zulu War The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Following the passing of the British North America Act of 1867 forming a federation in Canada, Lord Carnarvon thought that a similar political effort, coupl ...

as a sergeant with the 3rd

Natal Native Contingent The Natal Native Contingent was a large force of auxiliary soldiers in British South Africa, forming a substantial portion of the defence forces of the British colony of Natal. The Contingent saw action during the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War. The Natal ...

. This unit was disbanded at

Rorke's Drift The Battle of Rorke's Drift (1879), also known as the Defence of Rorke's Drift, was an engagement in the Anglo-Zulu War. The successful British defence of the mission station of Rorke's Drift, under the command of Lieutenants John Chard of the ...

after the siege, and the officers and non-commissioned officers formed three troops of the Natal Horse. He also fought in Landrey's Light Horse in

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in 1881–1882. His VC gratuity was paid from the consulate in Boston, United States, and also in Auckland, New Zealand, during the 1870s. Lane was one of eight men whose VCs were forfeited. He was stripped of the medal on 7 April 1881 after being convicted of desertion on active service and theft of a "horse, arms and accoutrements". However, King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

felt that no VC should be forfeited and although the present warrant retains the forfeiture clause, no award have been forfeited since the King's 1920 comments. The eight recipients who forfeited their awards have always been included on official War Office lists of VC holders but with a note at the end of the alphabetical list of recipients prior to the First World War stating the names and dates of the warrants that cancelled their awards. The British Government insisted on the return of his medal from the South African authorities. However, Lane had entrusted his VC to a friend, so the South Africans made a copy and sent that to the War Office. His original medal was found in a pawnshop in 1909. Both are now in the possession of The Royal Hampshire Regiment Museum & Memorial Garden in

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, England. He died in

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

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on 12 April 1889 as a member of the Kimberley Police.

Military service

See also

References

Further reading