Valentine McMaster

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox military person Surgeon Valentine Munbee McMaster VC (16 May 1834 – 22 January 1872) was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Life

McMaster was born in Tiruchirappalli in India and later graduated from the University of Edinburgh Medical School<ref name=Biog>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> with an MD.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

He entered the army as an assistant surgeon in March 1855<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> and joined the 78th Highlanders, serving in the Persian War in 1857, before returning with the regiment to India at the beginning of the Indian Mutiny. Here, the 78th joined General Havelock’s column that advanced to relieve the siege of Lucknow.<ref name=RG>Template:Cite news</ref>

VC action

McMaster was a 23 years old assistant surgeon in the 78th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot (later The Seaforth Highlanders) during the Indian Mutiny when the following deed took place on 25 September 1857, at the first relief of Lucknow for which he was awarded the VC: Template:Quote

McMaster was presented with his cross by Lieutenant General Henry Somerset in Bombay later that year.<ref name=Biog/> McMaster was awarded one of the eight VCs to the 78th Regiment for the Indian Mutiny. None of the awards to the 78th Regiment and no awards to Medical Officers during the Indian Mutiny were recommended under the ballot method provided in Clause 13 of the Victoria Cross Warrant. <ref>Claims that McMaster’s VC was a Clause 13 award are from F C Maude and J W Shearer, Memories of the Mutiny, London 1894, Vol II, p. 536. The claim is debunked by M J Crook in The Evolution of the Victoria Cross, Midas Books, 1975. See Chapter 10- awards by ballots at pages 102 -104 of the book.</ref>

Later years

In September 1860 McMaster transferred from the 78th Highlanders to be assistant surgeon of the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons,<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> moving to the 18th Hussars in June 1864.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> Promoted to the rank of staff-surgeon in March 1868,<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> he returned to the 78th Highlanders in March 1869.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> The same year, the 78th were posted to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where McMaster married Eleanor Burmester in June 1870. They had a daughter and son, one born after McMaster's death. In November 1871 the 78th moved to Belfast where, on 22 January 1872, McMaster died of heart disease aged 37. He was buried in Belfast City Cemetery.<ref name=Biog/> There is a memorial to his memory in St. Columb's Cathedral in Derry.

McMaster's widow Eleanor returned to Canada,<ref name=Biog/> where she married Canadian surgeon Campbell Mellis Douglas, who had won the VC in the 1867 Andaman Islands expedition.<ref>RAMC Journal Template:Webarchive</ref>

The medal

His Victoria Cross is displayed at the National War Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh Castle.<ref name=Biog/>

References

• Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross (Richard Doherty & David Truesdale, 2000) Template:ISBN
• Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
• The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997) Template:ISBN

External links

• Location of grave and VC medal (Belfast, Northern Ireland)
• Biography