Irishman Awarded First Ever Victoria Cross

*Correction, HMS Hecla not Helca*
Charles Davis Lucas was the first winner of the Victoria Cross, the principal award for valour awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Lucas was born on 19 February 1834 in Druminargal House, Poyntzpass, son of David and Elizabeth (Hill) Lucas. He enlisted in the navy at age 13 and by age 18 had seen active service in the Burma War of 1852-53, being awarded the India Medal.
The incident for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross happened during the Crimea War which broke out in 1854. Although the main area of the war was the Crimean Peninsula, significant hostilities took place in other places, particularly in the Baltic Sea. Lucas was a mate on HMS Hecla, a wooden battleship, part of the fleet of warships dispatched to blockade the Russian Baltic Fleet and divert their resources away from the Crimea. On the evening of 21 June 1854 the Hecla, the Odin and the Valorous attacked the large fortress on Bomarsund in the Aland islands which guarded the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia. During the fierce action, which lasted most of the night, the Hecla closed on the fortress, within the range of the Russian guns.
The citation of the award records that - .
"..... at the height of the action a live shell landed on Hecla's upper deck, with its fuse still hissing. All hands were ordered to fling themselves flat on the deck, but Mr. Lucas with great presence of mind ran forward and hurled the shell into the sea, where it exploded with a tremendous roar before it hit the water. Thanks to Mr. Lucas's action no one was killed or seriously wounded."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles...
www.newulsterbiography.co.uk/i...
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[@NorwayHikesTrails]

Nice historical video. Thank you for sharing 😊

[@user-ih3bm6cj9b]

Very Informative, thanks for sharing.

[@AdventureIreland]

My pleasure!

[@Brunosadventures]

Wow, cool 👍

[@duckpuddles]

HMS Hecla not Helca!

[@AdventureIreland]

Thanks, Noted in description

[@Brunosadventures]

Although, was he really Irish or was he Anglo?

[@AdventureIreland]

Born and lived in Ireland, Irish!

[@Brunosadventures]

Ok fair enough 😊

[@johnroche7541]

​@@BrunosadventuresYou should get in contact with the "Victoria Cross Society" who will give you a list of the Irishmen who were awarded the VC. Another interesting Irishman who won the VC was Martin Doyle. He was awarded for bravery on the Western Front while serving with the Irish regiment of the British Army the Royal Munster Fusiliers. He was also a recipient of the Military Medal. After the Great War he returned to Ireland and joined the IRA and was an Intelligence Officer during the Irish War of Independence 1919-1921. Hundreds of IRA men were Great War veterans and five had received gallantry medals including Martin Doyle.

[@johnroche7541]

​@@AdventureIrelandAnother interesting Irishman who was awarded the Victoria Cross was Martin Doyle. He served with the Irish regiment of the British Army the Royal Munster Fusiliers. He was awarded for bravery on the Western Front. He was also a recipient of the Military Medal. He was at Buckingham Palace in June 1919 for the event by King George 5th with all other Victoria Cross recipients. When he returned to Ireland he joined the IRA and was an Intelligence Officer in Co.Clare during the Irish War of Independece 1919-1921.

[@AdventureIreland]

@@johnroche7541 Interesting stuff John, I'll look into it further for another potential video.

[@TellySavalas-or5hf]

Nice Historic robot story.

[@AdventureIreland]

I think that's a thanks Telly, I did this story a few months back with no voiceover, just text and music, the majority of the feedback was that it needed a voiceover as people were not reading the text. I redid a few of my videos with AI voiceover and it seems to work good. 👍

[@GraveVisitations]

​@@AdventureIrelandwho cares if it is AI voice or not it is history something some of us probably never heard of. Thanks for sharing 👍