In the Crimea such men as Lieutenants Day, Buckley, Burgoyne, and Commerell acted as the eyes and ears of their commanders, and volunteered for those little jobs that so infuriated the Russians when the red glow in the midnight sky showed them where stacks of forage and other stores blazed merrily.
Day’s V.C. was awarded him for a most valuable piece of work. His ship was stationed off Genitchesk (frequently spelt Genitchi), in the north-eastern corner of the Crimea, and it was deemed necessary to reconnoitre the enemy’s lines to ascertain the full strength of the Russians. For this dangerous service the young lieutenant volunteered.
Accordingly, one night he was landed alone on the Tongue, or Spit, of Arabat, at the spot he had chosen whence to start. Cossacks, singly or in small companies, policed the marshy wastes, but Day wriggled his way between their posts and eventually got close to the Russian gunboats. The dead silence that prevailed misled him as to the numbers thereon, and convinced that the vessels were deserted he returned to report the facts to his captain.
The next day circumstances induced him to suppose that he had been mistaken. He decided to make a second journey without loss of time, and one night very soon afterwards saw him again on the Spit. Day soon discovered that large reinforcements had arrived on the mainland, and at once made haste to return to his ship.
The long detours he was now obliged to make, to avoid contact with the Cossack sentries, led him through quagmires and over sandy stretches that severely tried his endurance. When he reached the shore at last, well-nigh exhausted, nearly ten hours had elapsed since his start, and it is not surprising that, having heard shots fired, his comrades had given him up for lost. He got back after a most providential escape, however, and made his report. But for his discoveries an attempt would certainly have been made to seize the Russian boats, in which case the result must have been disastrous.
Lieutenants Buckley and Burgoyne distinguished themselves by landing near Genitchesk at night and firing some immense supplies of stones. With the seaman, Robarts, who accompanied them, they were nearly cut off by Cossacks on their return, and only a fierce fight enabled them to escape. All three won the V.C. for this daring piece of work.
Lieutenant Commerell (afterwards Admiral Sir J. E. Commerell, G.C.B.) performed a like action later on the same year, which gained the V.C. for him and one of his two companions, Quartermaster Rickard.
Their objective was the Crimean shore of the Putrid Sea, on the western side of the Spit of Arabat. They accomplished their task successfully, setting fire to 400 tons of Russian corn and forage, but were chased by Cossacks for a long distance. In the helter-skelter rush back for the boat, about three miles away, the third man of the party, Able-Seaman George Milestone, fell exhausted in a swamp, and but for Commerell’s and Rickard’s herculean exertions must have fallen a victim to the enemy.
Making what is popularly known as a “bandy-chair”, by clasping each other’s wrists, the two officers managed to carry their companion a considerable distance. A party of Cossacks at this juncture had nearly succeeded in cutting them off, but the sailors in the boat now opened fire, while Commerell, dropping his burden for a moment, brought down the leading horseman by a bullet from his revolver. This fortunately checked the Cossacks, who were only some sixty yards away, and by dint of half carrying, half dragging Milestone, the plucky lieutenant and quartermaster eventually got him to the boat, and were soon out of reach of their pursuers.