William James Lendrim VC (1 January 1830 – 28 November 1891) 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 and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to

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and

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forces.

Details

He was 25 years old, and a

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non ...

in the

Royal Sappers and Miners The British Army during the Victorian era served through a period of great technological and social change. Queen Victoria ascended the throne in 1837, and died in 1901. Her long reign was marked by the steady expansion and consolidation of the Br ...

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 ...

during 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 ...

when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. On 14 February 1855 during the Siege of Sevastopol,

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

, Corporal Lendrim superintended 150 French

Chasseur ''Chasseur'' ( , ), a French term for "hunter", is the designation given to certain regiments of French and Belgian light infantry Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a mor ...

s in building No. 9 Battery left attack and replacing the whole of the capsized

gabion A gabion (from Italian ''gabbione'' meaning "big cage"; from Italian ''gabbia'' and Latin ''cavea'' meaning "cage") is a cage, cylinder or box filled with rocks, concrete, or sometimes sand and soil for use in civil engineering, road building, ...

s under a heavy fire. On 11 April he got on top of a magazine under fire, and extinguished burning sandbags, making good the breach. On 20 April he was one of four volunteers who destroyed the screen which the Russians had erected to conceal their advance rifle-pits.

Further information

He later achieved the rank of

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, and worked at the Staff College,

Frimley Frimley is a town in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, approximately southwest of central London. The town is of Saxon origin, although it is not listed in Domesday Book of 1086. Train services to Frimley (on the line betwe ...

. He married Louisa and had 12 children – all alive in 1881. William died

Camberley Camberley is a town in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, approximately south-west of Central London. The town is in the far west of the county, close to the borders of Hampshire and Berkshire. Once part of Windsor Forest, Cambe ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, 28 November 1891 and is buried at the Royal Military Academy Cemetery, plot 182.

The medal

His Victoria Cross is displayed at the

Royal Engineers Museum The Royal Engineers Museum, Library and Archive is a military engineering museum and library in Gillingham, Kent. It tells the story of the Corps of Royal Engineers and British military engineering in general. History The 'Ravelin Building', ...

''(

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, England)''.

Masonic Interests

He was initiated in Lodge of the Thirty-seventh Company of Royal Engineers, No. 963 on 8 July 1863 and passed on 12 August the same year. As the Lodge warrant was withdrawn on 22 February 1864, he was raised in United Chatham Lodge of Benevolence, No. 184, Chatham on 12 April 1864, resigning in November the same year. He was the first Junior Warden of the Albert Edward Lodge No. 1714 chartered by the United Grand Lodge of England in the Province of Surrey in 1877, and its third Worshipful Master in 1879. He was appointed to Provincial Grand Steward in the Province of Surrey in 1878, and Provincial Grand Pursuivant of Surrey in 1881

References

Listed in order of publication year * *''

The Register of the Victoria Cross ''The Register of the Victoria Cross'' is a reference work that provides brief information on every Victoria Cross awarded until the publication date. Each entry provides a summary of the deed, along with a photograph of the recipient and the fol ...

'' (1981, 1988 and 1997) * *''

Ireland's VCs List of Irish Victoria Cross recipients lists all recipients of the Victoria Cross (post-nominal letters "VC") born on the island of Ireland, together with the date and place of their VC action. The Victoria Cross is the highest war honour of ...

'' (Dept of Economic Development, 1995) *''

Monuments to Courage David Charles Harvey (29 July 1946 – 4 March 2004) was a historian and author. He is notable for his seminal work, ''Monuments To Courage'', which documents the graves of almost all recipients of the Victoria Cross, a task that took him over 36 ...

'' (David Harvey, 1999) *''

Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross List of Irish Victoria Cross recipients lists all recipients of the Victoria Cross (post-nominal letters "VC") born on the island of Ireland, together with the date and place of their VC action. The Victoria Cross is the highest war honour of ...

'' (Richard Doherty & David Truesdale, 2000)

External links

Royal Engineers Museum
Sappers VCs

''(Surrey)''

Notable Members {{DEFAULTSORT:Lendrim, William James 1830 births 1891 deaths 19th-century Irish people Irish soldiers in the British Army Irish recipients of the Victoria Cross Crimean War recipients of the Victoria Cross British Army personnel of the Crimean War British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 Royal Engineers soldiers People from County Leitrim British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross Military personnel from County Leitrim