‘Valley of Death’ gong fetches £17k
THE medal of one of only two men captured during the doomed Charge of the Light Brigade has been sold for more than £17,000.
Lieutenant John Chadwick was one of the 600 men who rode into the “Valley of Death” in the near-suicidal mission immortalised in Alfred Tennyson’s famous poem.
Lt Chadwick managed to reach the Russian guns but his horse, having been weakened by a loss of blood, could not move any further.
He bravely defended himself before a lance was forced into his neck, knocking him off his horse and at the enemy’s mercy.
The severely wounded officer was taken prisoner by the Russians but released 12 months later at the end of the Crimean War.
Helpless
The Battle of Balaclava on October 25, 1854, is regarded as one of the infamous days in British military history. Lord Raglan, overall commander of the British forces at Balaclava, had intended to send the Light Brigade to pursue a separate, retreating Russian battery.
But due to a breakdown in communications, the unit headed off on the heroic mission – attacked from all sides by artillery, infantry and cavalry. The charge resulted in the deaths of 110 British men with a further 161 wounded.
Lt Chadwick’s Crimea Medal, with clasps for Alma, Balaclava and Sebastopol, fetched a hammer price of £14,000 when it was sold with London auctioneers Dix Noonan
Webb. Extra fees took the overall figure paid by a British based private collector to £17,360.
A Dix Noonan Webb spokesperson said: “During the charge, Chadwick was left to defend himself before a lance point to his neck knocked him from his horse and rendered him helpless.
“He was one of only two officers taken prisoner by the Russians. It passed by descent to the vendor who was gifted the medal by his aunt in 1940. It was bought over the telephone by a private collector based in the UK.”
Lt Chadwick was born in 1817 and enlisted with the 13th Lancers in Manchester in 1835.
He transferred to the 15th Hussars after Crimea and became an Honorary Captain in 1858, before being appointed Adjutant and Quartermaster of the Royal Hospital in Dublin. He retired in 1867 and died in Liverpool aged 52 in 1869.
The other officer taken prisoner during the charge was Cornet Clowes, of the 8th Hussars.
Tennyson’s poem was published just weeks after details of the battle became known.
The Charge of the Light Brigade story has twice been told on the big screen, in 1936 starring Errol Flynn and in 1968 with Trevor Howard.