Private John Barry 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment 7th January 1901 |
On January 7, 1901, during the attack on Monument Hill, Private Barry was near the Maxim gun when his party was surrounded and threatened by the Boers. To save it from falling into the enemy's hands and being used against our own men, he heroically smashed the breach of it, rendering it quite useless, and, while engaged in this devoted action, was killed. The Victoria Cross, as stated in the Gazette, would have been awarded to him had he survived, but it was handed to his relatives by the authorities in accordance with the new regulation framed by the Secretary of State for War in 1902 |