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Gonville Bromhead
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Major Gonville Bromhead VC (29 August 1845 - 9 February 1892) was an English 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.
Bromhead had a profound deafness which had restricted his promotion opportunities to this point in his life. It was this disability that prompted Bromhead to defer command to John Rouse Merriott Chard during the Rorke's Drift Siege.
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Encyclopedia
Major Gonville Bromhead VC (29 August 1845 - 9 February 1892) was an English 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.
Bromhead had a profound deafness which had restricted his promotion opportunities to this point in his life. It was this disability that prompted Bromhead to defer command to John Rouse Merriott Chard during the Rorke's Drift Siege. Bromhead had been promoted to Lieutenant in 1871.
He was a 33 year old lieutenant commanding B Company, 2nd Battalion, 24th Foot (later The South Wales Borderers), British Army during the Zulu War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 22 and 23 January 1879 at Rorke's Drift, Natal, South Africa, Lieutenant Bromhead shared the command of the defenders of the post with an officer of the Royal Engineers (John Rouse Merriott Chard), setting a fine example and conducting himself with great gallantry in most trying circumstances.
After the battle he was immediately promoted to Captain and then Brevet Major. The citation for his VC was published in the London Gazette on 2 May 1879:
He received a substantive promotion to Major on 4 April 1883.
Bromhead died of typhoid at Camp Dabhaura, Allahabad, British India where he is buried in a military cemetery. The church at Thurlby in Lincolnshire has a stained glass window dedicated to him. His grandfather, who fought at the Battle of Waterloo, is buried in its churchyard. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the South Wales Borderers Museum (Brecon, Powys, Wales).
He was considered to be Irish, despite being born in Versailles, France. His mother, Judith Christine Wood, was certainly Irish, being a native of Woodville, Co. Sligo. However, his father's home was Thurlby Hall, north of Bassingham, near Lincoln. He was educated at the Thomas Magnus Grammar School in Newark, Nottinghamshire where one of the School Houses - 'Bromhead' was named after him until their abolition early this century.
In the 1964 film Zulu Gonville Bromhead was portrayed by Michael Caine, in his first starring role.
External links
- (biography, photos, memorial details)
- (information within Frederick Hitch site)
Very rough location of where he is buried can be found on Google Earth at:
25° 27' 06.31" N 81° 48' 31.30" E
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