Samuel Mitchell VC (8 September 1841 – 16 March 1894) was a Royal Navy sailor and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Early life Samuel Mitchell was born in Aspley in Bedfordshire, England, on 8 September 1841. His father was a labourer who later became a minister in a Wesleyan church. Mitchell joined the Royal Navy in 1857, shortly before his 16th birthday. Military career Mitchell served aboard HMS Crocodile and later the shore station in Portsmouth, . In 1860 he was posted to , which was destined for service on the Australian Station. Operating out of Sydney, the Australian Station area of operations encompassed both Australia and New Zealand. In 1863, during the Waikato-Hauhau Maori War in New Zealand, the Harrier participated in an expedition up the Waikato River in support of British Army operations. Mitchell, who had been made captain of the foretop, was part of a naval brigade that was raised for service in the Invasion of the Waikato and which fought in the Battle of Rangiriri. By the end of the year, the fighting in the Waikato region had ceased but hostilities had shifted to Tauranga, and Mitchell's brigade moved there to participate in the Tauranga Campaign. On 29 April 1864, a storming party of 150 marines and sailors, which included Mitchell and the captain of the Harrier, Commander Edward Hay, together with soldiers of the 43rd Light Infantry, succeeded in establishing themselves inside a fortified position known as the Gate Pa. Hay was wounded and despite being ordered to seek safety, Mitchell carried his commander to shelter. Although Hay died soon after from his wounds, he requested that Mitchell be recognised for his actions. Hay's senior officer, Commodore Sir William Wiseman, duly recommended him for the Victoria Cross (VC). The citation for his VC read: Mitchell was presented with his VC by the Governor of New South Wales in a ceremony attended by over 9,000 people at The Domain in Sydney on 24 September 1864. It was the second presentation of the VC to take place in Australia, and the first in New South Wales. Promoted to boatswain's mate, he continued to serve in the Royal Navy before ending his career in the military in mid-1865. Later life Mitchell returned to New Zealand and settled