£14k for medals of Light Brigade hero

MEDALS from a hero who dragged a wounded comrade to safety during the doomed charge of the Light Brigade have sold for more than £14,000.

Sergeant Henry Wickham, of the 13th Light Dragoons, helped his fellow soldier back to British lines despite being severely injured himself from a lance blow.

The Battle of Balaclava on October 25, 1854 – during the crimean War – is regarded as one of the most infamous days in British military history. Due to a breakdown in communications, the Light Brigade ended up being attacked from all sides by Russian artillery, infantry and cavalry.

The charge resulted in the deaths of 110 British men and spawned Alfred Tennyson’s famous poem. Sergeant Wickham’s selfless act has also been immortalised in Lady Butler’s painting ‘The Return’. His medals, pictured, sparked a bidding war when sold by a private collector with London-based auctioneer Spink & Son, eventually going for £14,800 including fees.