THE VICTORIA CROSS AWARDED TO BOATSWAIN HENRY CURTIS, ROYAL NAVY ( NAVAL BRIGADE ) HAS BEEN SOLD AT AUCTION BY SPINK OF LONDON.
27 April 1999


( select to enlarge )

Medal entitlement of Boatswain Henry Curtis,
Royal Navy ( Royal Naval Brigade )

  • Victoria Cross
  • Crimea Medal ( 1854-56 )
    • 2 clasps:
    • "Inkermann" - "Sebastopol"
  • Royal Navy Long Service & Good Conduct Medal ( not included )
  • Turkish Crimea Medal ( 1855-56 ) ( not included )


The Victoria Cross and Crimea Medal awarded to Boatswain Henry Curtis, Royal Navy, have been sold at auction by Spink of London. The sale hammer price realised £35,000. The VC group was purchased by the Michael Ashcroft Trust the holding institution for the Lord Ashcroft VC Collection and is displayed in the Imperial War Museum's Lord Ashcroft Gallery.


For the award of the Victoria Cross

[ London Gazette, 24 February 1857 ], Sebastopol, Crimea, 18 June 1855, Boatswain Henry Curtis, Royal Navy ( Naval Brigade ).

On the 18th June 1855, following the assault on the Redan at Sebastopol, he went to the assistance of a soldier of the 57th Regiment, who had been shot through both legs and was sitting up and calling for help. Curtis ( together with Lieutenant Henry D’Aeth, Captain of the Forecastle John Taylor and Lieutenant Henry Raby ) proceeded 70 yards across an open space towards the salient angle of the Redan, and in spite of the heavy fire which was still continuing, succeeded in carrying the wounded soldier to a place of safety, at the imminent risk of their own lives.

( Letter from Sir S Lushington, 7th June 1856 )

Henry Curtis was invested with his Victoria Cross by Queen Victoria at Hyde Park on the 26th June 1857


Henry Curtis died at his home in Portsea, Hampshire, on the 23rd November 1896, aged 72, and was buried in the Kingston Cemetery, Portsea. A headstone was erected over his grave in 1997.

Acquisitions

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Iain Stewart, 27 April 1999