Grave Colonel John M. Chard V.C.

Born: 21 Dec 1847 Boxhill, Plymouth, Devon. Family: s of Dr William Wheaton Chard of Pathe House, Othery, Som, and Mount Tamar, Plymouth, Devon and Jane (née Brimacombe) of Stoke Climsland, Cornwall; his brothers were Col William Wheaton Chard, 7th (R Fus) Regt and Rev Charles Edward Chard, Rector of Hatch Beauchamp, Som. Educated: Plymouth New Gmr Sch; RMA Woolwich. Unmarried. Career: 15 July 1868 comm Lt RE; Aug 1868-Sept 1870 Chatham, Kent; Oct 1870 svd Hamilton Dockyard, Bermuda, W Indies; Feb 1874 Malta constructing fortifications; May 1875 Aldershot, Hants and Chatham; Sept 1875 Devonport and Exeter, Devon; 3 May 1877 Freemason, initiated St George’s Lodge No 112, Exeter, Devon; Apr 1878 Aldershot; Aug 1878 Chatham; 2 Oct 1878 emb for S Africa with 5 Fd Coy RE; 9 Jan 1879 arr Durban, S Africa; 19 Jan 1879 arr Rorke’s Drift with 5 Fd Coy; 22-23 Jan 1879 VC Action at Rorke’s Drift, Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal), S Africa; soon after became ill and went to Ladysmith, Natal to recover; 23 Jan 1879 Capt and B/Maj; 4 July 1879 fought with 5 Fd Coy at Battle of Ulundi, Zululand; late 1879 ordered home; Oct 1879 met at Plymouth, Devon by telegram from Queen Victoria, who received him at Balmoral Castle, Scotland and presented him with a gold signet ring; Oct 1879 Devonport; Dec 1881 to Cyprus; 17 July 1886 Maj RE; Mar 1887-Oct 1892 Fulwood Barracks, Preston, Lancs; 14 Dec 1892-Jan 1896 Singapore; 8 Jan 1893 Lt Col CRE Singapore; returned to UK; Sept 1896-Nov 1897 CRE Perth Sub Dist, Scotland; 8 Jan 1897 Col; 8 Aug 1897 sick leave and retd mortally ill with throat cancer; lived with his brother at Hatch Beauchamp, Som. Final rank: Col. Died: 1 Nov 1897 Hatch Beauchamp, Som. Buried: St John the Baptist Church, Hatch Beauchamp; Queen Victoria sent a wreath to his funeral. Commemoration: headstone and memorial window, St John the Baptist Church, Hatch Beauchamp; plaque in Othery Church, Som; memorial window at Plymouth Guildhall destroyed by German bombing 1941; plaque in Jesus Chapel, Rochester Cath, Kent; John Chard VC House, TA Centre, Swansea, Wales; bronze bust at Crown Court building, Taunton; plaque at Musgrove Park Hosp, Taunton; bust at Som County Museum, Taunton; Alphonse de Neuville’s painting, ‘The Battle of Rorke’s Drift 22 January 1879’ in Art Gallery of NSW, Australia; 1952 John Chard Decoration and Medal created for service in S African Citizens Force. Other awards: South Africa Medal 1877-79 with clasp 1879. VC Investiture: 16 July 1879 by Lt Gen Sir Garnet Wolseley, Inkwenke Camp, St Paul’s Mission Sta, Zululand. VC location: IWM London.

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Source

• Text: Sharky Ward/vcgca
• Photos: Anthony (Sharky) Ward (1, 2, 3), photographer not identified, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (4)