Memorial Tirah Campaign Dorchester

Memorial to the twenty three soldiers of the Dorset Regiment killed during the Tirah Campaigh 1897-8.

"Tirah was part of the wild and mountainous border territory between Afghanistan and British India, now part of Pakistan. In 1897, Afridi and Orakzaki tribesmen attacked forts in the Khyber Pass, the main trade route between India and Afghanistan. An expeditionary force of 35,000 men commanded by general Sir William Lockhart, and including the Dorset Regiment's 1st Battalion, was sent to reopen the pass and to punish the tribes responsible.
In order to secure the column's route of advance, it was necessary to secure the Dargai Heights, a precipitous mountain range held by the tribesman. While advancing, the Dorsets were pinned down by intense enemy fire on the lower slopes, sustaining many casualties. it was during this action that Pte. Samuel Vickery earned the Regiment's only Victoria Cross, one of five awarded during the campaign.

Private Samuel Vickery
Sam Vickery was born in 1873 at Wambrook, near Chard. Enlisting in the Dorset Regimemt at the age of 20, he was part of a draft sent to the 1st Battalion in India and took part in the Tirah Expedition. During the attack on the Dargai Heights on October 1897, he rescued a wounded man under heavy enemy fire, for which service he was awarded the Victoria Cross. Later in the same campaign, he killed three tribesmen who attacked him whilst he was separated from his platoon.
as a Corporal, he served in the Boer War of 1899-1902, at one point mounting a daring escape from the Boer captivity. As a Reservist, he was recalled to the colours in 1914 and served with distinction on the Western Front.
Samuel Vickery died in Cardiff in 1952'
Artefacts from the Tirah Campaign, including Pte. Vickery's VC can be seen at the Keep Military Museum, Barracks Road Dorchester"

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Source

• Text: Sharky Ward/Memorial
• Photos: Anthony (Sharky) Ward