William Reynolds
The “curse of the Victoria Cross”. This refers to the belief that the prestigious medal brings misfortune or tragedy to its recipients of their families. While there is of course no official “curse”, there has been some cases where recipients have died young, others have suffered from mental health issues or experiencing other hardship.
One of the first
soldiers to have been awarded the medal, was William Reynolds.William Reynolds
Reynolds who was born 1827, in Stockbridge, Edinburgh, was
stonemason by trade.
Age 27, Reynolds was a Guardsman with the Scots Fusiliers
Guards, at the time of the Crimean War, and when he was awarded the Victoria
Cross.
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| Battle of Alma Eugene Lami |
The allies had made a surprise landing in Crimea on 14 September.
The allied commanders, Maréchal Jacques Leroy de Saint-Arnaud and Lord
Raglan, then marched toward the strategically important port city of Sevastopol,
45 km (28 miles) away. Russian commander Prince Alexander
Sergeyevich Menshikov rushed his available forces to the last natural
defensive position before the city, the Alma Heights, south of the Alma
River.
The allies made a series of disjointed attacks. The French
turned the Russian left flank with an attack up cliffs that the Russians had
considered unscalable. The British initially waited to see the outcome of the
French attack, then twice unsuccessfully assaulted the Russians' main position
on their right. Eventually, superior British rifle fire forced the Russians to
retreat. With both flanks turned, the Russian position collapsed, and they
fled. The lack of cavalry meant that little pursuit occurred.
The battle cost the French roughly 1,600 casualties, the
British 2,000, the Ottomans 503, and the Russians some 5,000.
During the battle, Guardsman Reynolds, played significant
role in rallying the troops and ensuring they fought on, despite increasing
heavy fire. The bravery of this Colour Party was such that three of its members
were among the first Scots recipients of the Victoria Cross. His citation published in the London Gazette
on the 24th of February 1857, read
“Scots Fusilier Guards No. 3368 Private William Reynolds.
When the formation of the line was disordered at Alma, for having behaved in a
conspicuous manner in rallying men around the Colours.”
June of that year, Reynolds, was invested with his Victoria
Cross by Queen Victoria in Hyde Park.
After leaving the army, Reynolds, settled in London, where
he obtained a job as a bank messenger.
Aged 42, Reynolds, died on the 20th of October 1869,
at the workhouse dispensary of the Strand Union, Central London. Reynolds was
buried in a 2nd class grave, at Brookwood Cemetery, and his Victoria
Cross was at display at Guards’ Regimental Headquarters, Wellington Barracks,
London.
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| William Reynolds headstone Brookwood Cemetery |
It is thought that all the Victoria Crosses were made from
the bronze from the cascabels of two cannons that were
captured from the Russians at the siege of Sevastopol. However, Victoria Cross made after December
1914, until 1945, were made from the metal used from antique Chinese guns,
replacing an earlier gun. It is thought
that the cannon was taken as trophies during the First Opium War and
held in the Woolwich repository.
Since 1945, the composition found in the Second World War
VCs, is likely to come from e reuse of material from earlier pourings,
casting sprues, defective medals, etc.
The remaining portion of the only remaining cascabel,
weighing 358 oz (10 kg), is stored in a vault maintained by 15
Regiment Royal Logistic Corps at MoD Donnington and may only be
removed under armed guard. It is estimated that approximately 80 to 85 more VCs
could be cast from this source.
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| Hancocks & Co, London |
Queen Victoria, who indicated that she would like to present
the medals in person, and she presented 185 medals out of the 472 gazetted
during her reign. Including the first 62 medals presented at a parade in Hyde
Park on 26 June 1857 by Queen Victoria
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