Valentine Bambrick VC (13 April 1837 – 1 April 1864) was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Bambrick was "a son of the Army" - his father, at least one uncle (after whom he was named), and his older brother John all served with the 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own). Early life He was the son of John Thomas Bambrick (1790-1879) and Harriett Ann née Redlan (1795-1871). His older brother Pte John Thomas Bambrick (1832-1893) fought with the 11th Hussars (PAO) during the famous Charge of the Light Brigade in 1854 during the Crimean War. In 1853 Valentine Bambrick joined the 60th Rifles at the age of 16. He was 21 years old and a private in the 1st Battalion, 60th Rifles (later The King's Royal Rifle Corps) during the Indian Mutiny when the following deed took place on 6 May 1858 at Bareilly, India. He and his company commander Lieutenant Cromer Ashburnham (1831-1917) were cornered and Bambrick was awarded the Victoria Cross for his acts, recorded in the London Gazette as: This short citation gives little idea of the desperate hand-to-hand fighting Bambrick would have been involved in the narrow streets and alleys of Bareilly. End of military career Bambrick was jailed in May 1859 - possibly for insubordination - and then again in July and November of the same year. When the 1st Battalion returned to the United Kingdom in 1860, it did so without Bambrick who may have been serving a further sentence in a military jail. He transferred to the 87th Regiment, which by 1862 was stationed at Curragh Camp in Ireland. In July 1862 Bambrick was back in jail and in March 1863 he received a sentence of 160 days for desertion. It seems likely that Bambrick had a problem with alcohol. He had arrived at Aldershot in November 1863 just prior to being discharged from the Army and within 24 hours found himself in trouble again - this time with the civilian authorities. Incident at Aldershot On 12 December 1863 Bambrick appeared at the Winchester Assizes before Mr. Justice Baron Pigott. There he and Charlotte Johnson were indicted for violently assaulting Henry Milner Russell (1828-1894), and stealing from his person four medals in Aldershot on 15 November 1863. Russell had married