Thomas Wilkinson (VC 1855)

For the person who received the VC in 1942, see Thomas Wilkinson (VC 1942).
Thomas Wilkinson
Born 1831
York, England
Died 22 September 1887 (aged 5556)
York, England
Buried at York Cemetery
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Marines
Years of service 1847–1871
Rank Sergeant Instructor
Unit Royal Marine Artillery
Battles/wars Crimean War
Awards Victoria Cross
Légion d'honneur (France)

Thomas Wilkinson VC (1831 – 22 September 1887) was a British Army soldier and an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Wilkinson was about 24 years old, and a bombardier in the Royal Marine Artillery, Royal Marines during the Crimean War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.[1]

On 7 June 1855 at Sebastopol, Crimea, Bombardier Wilkinson was especially recommended for gallant conduct with the advanced batteries. He worked at the task of placing sandbags to repair damage done to the defences under a most galling fire.[2]

He later achieved the rank of Sergeant Instructor.

His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Royal Marines Museum, Southsea, England.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 5/17/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.