Their mettle has been well proved on the following fields:—Walcourt, Steenkirk, Landen, Namur, Cadiz, Rota, Vigo, Lindau, Minorca, Quebec, Satur, Montgomery, Clinton, Philadelphia, Newhaven, Charlestown, Cowpens, Copenhagen, Martingal, Oporto, Talavera, Busaco, Olivenze, Albuera, Aldea de Pont, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Salamanca, Montevite, Vittoria, Pampeluna, Pyrenees, Bidassoa, Orthes, Toulouse, New Orleans, Fort Bowyer, Alma, Inkermann, throughout the siege of Sebastopol, India (1857-8-9), Lalo, Umbeyla Pass, and Candahar (1880). Their valour was displayed on the heights of Alma and Inkermann in a manner most heroic. Multiplied and almost unheard-of proofs were given, I do not say merely of courage, but of devotion to their country, quite extraordinary and sublime.
The following are a few of the “Second to None” boys who have been presented by Her Most Gracious Majesty with that priceless decoration,
The Victoria Cross.
| Lieut. H. M. Jones, 1st. Lieut. W. Hope, 2nd. Ass.-Surgeon T. E. Hale, 3rd. Private W. Norman, 4th. Private M. Hughes, 5th. |
And during the Afghan campaign, at a sortie from Candahar, Private James Ashford won the cross by carrying wounded comrades from the field under a most tremendous fire, after all the troops had re-entered the fortress.
The Fusiliers have, as the records prove, been largely recruited from Norfolk, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, and Lancashire, with a good sprinkling of the boys of the Green Isle.
We will now bid farewell to the Royal Fusiliers, or “second to none” boys, wishing them “God speed.”
THE VICTORIA CROSS.
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“Worth! What is a ribbon worth to a soldier? Worth! Everything! Glory is priceless!” “Every village has its hero, And every fire-side its story.” |
SEVENTH ROYAL FUSILIERS.