Lieutenant Mark Walker VC (1827-1902)
Mark Walker reading general orders. NAM 1964-12-151-6-17
'I tell you, we gave 'em a hell of a towelling.' - General Sir John Pennefather
Mark Walker's VC. NAM 2001-02-431
Unlike Poolfield Davis, Lieutenant Mark Walker (shown seated above) really did lead a last-ditch defence against all odds at the Battle of Inkerman (1854). The 200 men of the 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot were attacked and in imminent danger of being overwhelmed by 1000 Russians. Walker jumped over the wall behind which his men were sheltering and led them forward in an inspired counter-attack. The enemy fled. Walker was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC).
Only seven months later, Walker was injured by a piece of howitzer shell while he was serving in the trenches. His arm was amputated. But even this didn’t stop him seeing service in the Second China War(1857-1860). He went on to become a General and was knighted in 1893.
