Irish Victoria Cross Winners

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Abraham Boulger

Indian Mutiny

12th July 1857

Abraham Boulger was born in Kilcullen, Co. Kildare on 4th September 1835. During the Indian Mutiny he served as a Lance-Corporal in the 84th Foot. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery as a skirmisher in twelve engagements between 12th July and 25th September 1857.

Boulger was commissioned, served in the Egyptian Campaign of 1882 as a Quartermaster and later rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He died in Moate, Co. Westmeath on 23rd January 1900 and is buried in Ballymore Churchyard. His VC is displayed in the York and Lancaster Regiment Museum in Rotherham, Yorkshire.

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James Magennis

Singapore

31st July 1945

Magennis was born in Belfast on 27th October 1919 and joined the Royal Navy in 1935. He transferred to submarines in 1942 and volunteered for duty on midget submarines in March 1943. He trained as a diver and took part in the midget submarine attack on the Tirpitz in September 1943.

On 31st July 1945, Magenis was part of the four man crew of the midget submarine XE3 tasked with sinking the Japanese Cruiser Takao, moored in the Straits of Johor between Singapore and the Malayan mainland. The XE3 was towed to within 40 miles of the target by HMS Stygian and then made her own way on a hazardous journey. At 1300 hours Magennis left the XE3 to attach limpet mines to the hull of the Japanese ship, having to spend half an hour chipping off barnacles to do so. His breathing apparatus was leaking all the while. Returning to the submarine exhausted, it was then found that they could not jettison the limpet mine carrier, so Magennis had to sally forth again and detach it with a spanner.

Magennis left the Navy in 1949 and worked as an electrician in Yorkshire. He died in Halifax on 12th February 1986. His VC, which he sold for £100 after the war, is part of the Ashcroft Collection in the National Army Museum. Currently he is the last Irishman to have won the Victoria Cross.

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George Boyd-Rochfort

La Bassée, France

3rd August 1915

George Boyd-Rochfort was born on 1st January 1880 at Middleton Park House, Castletown Geoghegan, Co. Westmeath. During WW1 he was commissioned in the Scots Guards.

On 3rd August 1915 he was in charge of a work detail in a communication trench near La Bassée, France When a German trench-mortar bomb hit the parapet of the trench. Boyd-Rochfort shouted a warning to the work party, then picked up the mortar bomb and threw it out of the trench where it exploded harmlessly. For this act he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

Boyd-Rochfort was later promoted to Captain. After the war he worked as a race-horse trainer. He died in Dublin on 7th August 1940 and is buried in Castletown Old Churchyard, Co Westmeath. His VC is displayed in Scots Guards Regimental HQ, London.