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← Older revision		Revision as of 17:57, 13 July 2022
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	{{short description\|Recipient of the Victoria Cross}}		{{short description\|Recipient of the Victoria Cross}}
	{{Use dmy dates\|date=January ~~2022~~}}		{{Use dmy dates\|date=January 2015}}
	{{Use Irish English\|date=January ~~2022~~}}		{{Use Irish English\|date=January 2015}}
	{{Infobox military person		{{Infobox military person
	\|name=Walter Richard Pollock Hamilton		\|name=Walter Richard Pollock Hamilton

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← Older revision		Revision as of 17:57, 13 July 2022
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	{{short description\|Recipient of the Victoria Cross}}		{{short description\|Recipient of the Victoria Cross}}
	{{Use dmy dates\|date=January ~~2015~~}}		{{Use dmy dates\|date=January 2022}}
	{{Use Irish English\|date=January ~~2015~~}}		{{Use Irish English\|date=January 2022}}
	{{Infobox military person		{{Infobox military person
	\|name=Walter Richard Pollock Hamilton		\|name=Walter Richard Pollock Hamilton
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	*[http://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armycampaigns/indiancampaigns/campafghan1878hamilton.htm Lieutenant Walter Hamilton]		*[http://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armycampaigns/indiancampaigns/campafghan1878hamilton.htm Lieutenant Walter Hamilton]
	*[http://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armycampaigns/indiancampaigns/residency.htm The Residency]		*[http://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armycampaigns/indiancampaigns/residency.htm The Residency]
	* [http://www.angelfire.com/mp/memorials/kabulres.htm The Defence of the Kabul Residency]		*[http://www.angelfire.com/mp/memorials/kabulres.htm The Defence of the Kabul Residency]
	* [http://www.quinnipiac.edu/other/abl/etext/irish/pictures203/p89.html Hamilton's statue]		*[http://www.quinnipiac.edu/other/abl/etext/irish/pictures203/p89.html Hamilton's statue]

	{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Walter Richard Pollock}}		{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Walter Richard Pollock}}
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	[[Category:Corps of Guides (India) officers]]		[[Category:Corps of Guides (India) officers]]
	[[Category:Bengal Staff Corps officers]]		[[Category:Bengal Staff Corps officers]]
			[[Category:Military personnel from County Kilkenny]]

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{{short description|Recipient of the Victoria Cross}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{Use Irish English|date=January 2015}}
{{Infobox military person
|name=Walter Richard Pollock Hamilton
|honorific_suffix=
|birth_date={{birth date|df=y|1856|8|18}}
|death_date={{death date and age|df=y|1879|9|3|1856|8|18}}
|birth_place=[[Inistioge]], [[County Kilkenny]]
|death_place=[[Kabul]], [[Afghanistan]]
|placeofburial=
|image= Victoria Cross Winners- Pre 1914. Q80535.jpg
|image_size=
|caption= Walter Richard Pollock Hamilton VC (IWM)
|nickname=
|allegiance={{flag|United Kingdom}}
|serviceyears=1874-1879{{KIA}}
|rank=[[Lieutenant]]
|branch=[[File:British Raj Red Ensign.svg|23px]] [[British Indian Army]]
|commands=
|unit=
{{plainlist|
*[[70th Regiment of Foot]]
*[[Corps of Guides (British India)|Bengal Staff Corps and Corps of Guides]]
}}
|battles=[[Second Anglo-Afghan War]]
|awards= [[Victoria Cross]]
|laterwork=
}}
'''Walter Richard Pollock Hamilton''' [[Victoria Cross|VC]] (18 August 1856 – 3 September 1879) was born in [[Inistioge]], [[County Kilkenny]] and was an [[Irish people|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 [[United Kingdom|British]] and [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] forces. He is featured in [[M. M. Kaye|M. M. Kaye's]] epic novel ''[[The Far Pavilions]]''.

==Details==
Hamilton was a great nephew of General Sir [[George Pollock]] who led the Army of Retribution in the [[First Afghan War]]. He was educated at [[Felsted School|Felsted]]. Hamilton was 22 years old, and a [[lieutenant]] in the [[Corps of Guides (British India)|Staff Corps and Corps of Guides]], [[Indian Army]] during the [[Second Afghan War]] when the following deed took place on 2 April 1879 at Futtehabad, [[Afghanistan]],
for which he was awarded the VC:
{{quote|For conspicuous gallantry during the action at Futtehabad on the 2nd April, 1879, in leading on the Guide Cavalry in a charge against very superior numbers of the enemy, and particularly at a critical moment when his Commanding Officer (Major Wigram Battye) fell, Lieutenant Hamilton, then the only Officer left with the Regiment, assumed command and cheered on his men to avenge Major Battye's death. In this charge Lieutenant Hamilton, seeing Sowar Dowlut Ram down, and attacked by three of the enemy, whilst entangled with his horse (which had been killed) rushed to the rescue, and followed by a few of his men cut down all three and saved the life of Sowar Dowlut Ram.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=24768|page=5777|date=7 October 1879}}</ref>}}

The scene of Hamilton's death was the [[Bala Hissar, Kabul|Bala Hissar]], an enclosure within the city of [[Kabul]]. He commanded a small force of 20 Cavalry and 50 Infantry, all from the Corps of Guides, which formed an escort for Sir [[Louis Cavagnari]] the Envoy who was to set up the Residency in Kabul following the [[Treaty of Gandamak]]. After a riot by mutinous Afghan troops, who were demanding arrears of pay, the Residency was attacked on 3 September 1879. Fierce fighting took place between the Guides and the attackers, during which Cavagnari and all the Guides were killed.<ref name=winner>''Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross'' (Richard Doherty & David Truesdale, 2000), p. 70, {{ISBN|1-85182-491-X}}</ref>

On 15 May 1879, six weeks after the action at Futtehabad, the Government in India forwarded a Victoria Cross recommendation for Hamilton to London which on 6 August determined that his act was not covered by the Victoria Cross regulations. There was a change of heart when the Secretary of State for India, Lord Cranbrook, noted that Hamilton's actions were similar to those of Captain [[John Cook (VC)|John Cook]] and Lieutenant [[Reginald Clare Hart|Reginald Hart]] who had both been awarded the Victoria Cross two months earlier. By this stage Hamilton had been killed at Kabul on 3 September and in order to avoid the precedent of seeming to approve a posthumous award the submission to the Queen on 28 September was backdated to 1 September 1879. The award was gazetted on 7 October 1879, the 12th Victoria Cross recommendation approved after the death of the recipient.<ref>M J Crook, ''The evolution of the Victoria Cross'', Midas books, 1975, pp. 73-74.</ref>

==Memorials==
[[File:Walter Richard Pollock Hamilton statue - Project Gutenberg eText 16808.jpg|left|thumb|Statue commemorating Hamilton, in the National Army Museum]]
A slightly over-life-size statue of Hamilton striding over an Afghan threatening him with a knife was produced in bronze-painted plaster by [[Charles Bell Birch]] in Dublin in around 1880. It is now on display in the [[National Army Museum]], [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]], as is a plaque to him (set up in the Punjab Frontier Force Chapel, then in the sanctum crypt of St. Lukes Chapel, Chelsea).

==In the media==

Walter Hamilton is a character in the novel "[[The Far Pavilions]]", in the [[HBO]]-miniseries adaption he was portrayed by [[Benedict Taylor]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[File:National Army Museum Walter Richard Pocock Hamilton statue.JPG|thumb|280px|right|Bronze-painted statue to Hamilton on display at the [[National Army Museum]]]]
'''Listed in order of publication year '''
*''[[The Register of the Victoria Cross]]'' (1981, 1988 and 1997)
*{{cite journal|first=Brian D. H.|last=Clarke|title=A register of awards to Irish-born officers and men|journal=[[The Irish Sword]]|volume=XVI|issue=64|pages=185–287|year=1986}}
*''Ireland's VCs'' {{ISBN|1-899243-00-3}} (Dept of Economic Development, 1995)
*''[[Monuments to Courage]]'' (David Harvey, 1999)
* ''History of Felsted School (1864–1947)'', (Michael Craze, pp. 198–201; Cowell, 1955))

==External links==
*[http://www.victoriacross.org.uk/bbhamilw.htm VC medal auction details]
*[http://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armycampaigns/indiancampaigns/campafghan1878hamilton.htm Lieutenant Walter Hamilton]
*[http://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armycampaigns/indiancampaigns/residency.htm The Residency]
* [http://www.angelfire.com/mp/memorials/kabulres.htm The Defence of the Kabul Residency]
* [http://www.quinnipiac.edu/other/abl/etext/irish/pictures203/p89.html Hamilton's statue]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Walter Richard Pollock}}
[[Category:1856 births]]
[[Category:1879 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Irish people]]
[[Category:Irish soldiers in the British Army]]
[[Category:People from County Kilkenny]]
[[Category:People educated at Felsted School]]
[[Category:Irish recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:British Indian Army personnel killed in action]]
[[Category:East Surrey Regiment officers]]
[[Category:Second Anglo-Afghan War recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:Corps of Guides (India) officers]]
[[Category:Bengal Staff Corps officers]]

Walter Hamilton (VC) - Revision history

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