#OnThisDay 1854 At the Battle of Alma, Sgt Luke O’Connor from Roscommon would become the first recipient of the Victoria Cross. O’Connor was shot in the chest but grabbed his unit’s colours & rushed to the front & motivated his men to bayonet charge the enemy.
O’Connor was from a very poor family, had been kicked off their land, emigrated to the States but O’Connor returned to Ireland as a teenager. He joined the Army and eventually retired as a Major General and was knighted.
The Irish at War 