Joe Malone VC

This photo taken in 1881 shows Malone as a Captain in the Inniskilling (6th) Dragoons, but at Balaklava he was a sergeant in the 13th. He was certianly much brighter than the average soldier. He enlisted 31st March 1851 and promoted to sergeant without having been a corporal first.
Before the battle, he and three privates captured some enemy cavalry and a waggon-full of supplies being taken to Sevastopol. But it was in the Charge of the Light Brigade that Sergeant Joe won his VC. His horse had been killed and he was attempting to find his way back down the valley when he came across a group of 17th Lancers. They were Sgt-Maj Berryman and Sgt. Farrell who were protecting one of their officers who was badly wounded. The three of them were trapped there under heavy fire for a considerable time and finally managed to carry him back to the lines. The details are sketchy, but other accounts of survivors tell of cossacks plundering the dead and wounded on top of the constant hail of bullets from the surrounding hills. All three NCOs won the VC. There were many acts of bravery that day but Malone was the only soldier of the 13th to receive a VC.

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