Victoria Cross: F. E. H. Farquharson

FRANCIS EDWARD HENRY FARQUHARSON

Lieutenant, 42nd Regiment

Born: 25 March 1837, Glasgow, Scotland
Died: 12 September 1875, Haberton, Devonshire

Citation: THE Queen has been graciously pleased to confirm the grant of the decoration of the Victoria Cross to the undermentioned Officer of Her Majesty's Army, which decoration has been provisionally conferred upon him by the Commander-in-Chief in India, in accordance with the rules laid down in Her Majesty's Warrant instituting the same, for an Act of Bravery performed by him in that country, when serving under his personal Command, as recorded against his name; viz.:

For conspicuous bravery, when engaged before Lucknow, on the 9th March, 1858, in having led a portion of his Company, stormed a bastion mounting two guns, and spiked the guns, by which the advanced position, held during the night of the 9th of March, was rendered secure from the fire of Artillery.
Lieutenant Farquharson was severely wounded, while holding an advanced position, on the morning of the 10th of March.

[London Gazette issue 22278 dated 21 Jun 1859, published 21 Jun 1859.]

Victoria Cross: R. Humpston and J. Bradshaw

ROBERT HUMPSTON

Private, 2nd Battalion The Rifle Brigade

Born: 1832, Derby, Derbyshire
Died: 22 December 1884, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire

Citation: A Russian Rifle Pit, situated among the rocks overhanging the Woronzoff Road, between the 3rd parallel, Right Attack, and the Quarries (at that period in possession of the enemy), was occupied every night by the Russians, and their Riflemen commanded a portion of the Left Attack, and impeded the work in a new battery then being erected on the extreme right front of the 2nd parallel, Left Attack.
It was carried in daylight on the 22nd of April, 1855, by two riflemen, one of whom was Private Humpston; he received a gratuity of 5l., and was promoted.
The Rifle Pit was subsequently destroyed on further support being obtained.

[London Gazette issue 21971 dated 24 Feb 1857, published 24 Feb 1857.]


JOSEPH BRADSHAW

Private, 2nd Battalion The Rifle Brigade

Born: 1835, Dromkeen, County Limerick, Ireland
Died: 29 August 1893, St Johns, Limerick, County Limerick, Ireland

Citation: A Russian Rifle Pit, situated among the rocks overhanging the Woronzoff Road between the 3rd parallel, Right Attack, and the Quarries, (at that period in possession of the enemy), was occupied every night by the Russians, and their Riflemen commanded a portion of the Left Attack, and impeded the work in a new Battery then being erected on the extreme right front of the 2nd parallel, Left Attack.
It was carried in daylight on the 22nd of April, 1855, by two Riflemen, one of whom was Private Bradshaw; he has since received the French War Medal.
The Rifle Pit was subsequently destroyed on further support being obtained.

[London Gazette issue 21971 dated 24 Feb 1857, published 24 Feb 1857.]

Book list - Apr-Sep 12

Empress of Outer Space - SF, by A Bertram Chandler *
Sea of Thunder: Four Commanders and the Last Great Naval Campaign 1941-1945 - WW II, by Evan Thomas
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - children's poetry, by T S Eliot
A Natural History of Domesticated Mammals - agriculture, by Juliet Clutton-Brock
Cold War Hot: Alternate Decisions of the Cold War - AH, by Peter Tsouras
Cathedral, Forge and Waterwheel: Technology and Invention in the Middle Ages - history, by Frances and Joseph Gies *
The Callahan Cousins - children's, by Elizabeth Doyle Carey
Time Crime - SF/AH, by H Beam Piper
Null-ABC - SF, by H Beam Piper
Rendezvous with Rama - SF, by Arthur C Clarke *
The Blue-Eyed Aborigine - children's historic fiction, by Rosemary Hayes
In the Courts of the Crimson Kings - AH/SF, by S M Stirling *
Some Like It Hawk - mystery, by Donna Andrews
1632 - AH, by Eric Flint *
1633 - AH, by David Weber and Eric Flint *
The Grange at High Force - children's, by Philip Turner (Carnegie Medal, 1965)
The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler - children's, by Gene Kemp (Carnegie Medal, 1977)
1634: The Baltic War - AH, by David Weber and Eric Flint
1634: The Bavarian Crisis - AH, by Eric Flint and Virginia DeMarce
1635: The Eastern Front - AH, by Eric Flint


Only 20 books in the last six months, including six rereads (marked, as usual, by asterisks). After I finished rereading Rendezvous with Rama, I tried reading its first sequel, Rama II (by Arthur C Clarke and Gentry Lee), but I just couldn't get interested in any of the characters so I gave up on it after a few chapters. The two Carnegie Medal winners bring me up to 58 of 73.