John Barry (VC)

John Barry
Born(1873-02-01)1 February 1873
Kilkenny, Ireland
Died8 January 1901(1901-01-08) (aged 27)
Monument Hill, Belfast, Transvaal
Buried
Belfast Cemetery, Traansvaal
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service1890-1901 
RankPrivate
UnitThe Royal Irish Regiment
Battles/wars
AwardsVictoria Cross

John Barry, VC (1 February 1873 โ€“ 8 January 1901) born St Mary's parish, Kilkenny, Ireland, was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Barry was 27 years old, and a private in the 1st Battalion, The Royal Irish Regiment, British Army during the Second Boer War when the following deed took place on 7/8 January 1901 at Monument Hill, South Africa, for which he was (posthumously) awarded the VC:

During the night attack on the 7th and 8th January, 1901, on Monument Hill, Private Barry, although surrounded and threatened by the Boers at the time, smashed the breach of the Maxim gun, thus rendering it useless to its captors, and it was in doing this splendid act for his country that he met his death.

His VC is on display at the Lord Ashcroft Gallery in the Imperial War Museum, London.


This page was last updated at 2023-05-06 09:16 UTC. Update now. View original page.

All our content comes from Wikipedia and under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.


Top

If mathematical, chemical, physical and other formulas are not displayed correctly on this page, please useFirefox or Safari