Charles FitzClarence
recipient of the Victoria Cross
Brigadier-General Charles FitzClarence, VC (8 May 1865 – 12 November 1914) was an Anglo-Irish 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.
Early life
Charles FitzClarence was born in County Kildare, the son of Captain the Hon. George FitzClarence (15 April 1836 – 24 March 1894) and Maria Henrietta Scott (1841 – 27 July 1912). He had a twin brother named Edward. His paternal grandfather was the 1st Earl of Munster, an illegitimate son of William, Duke of Clarence (later King William IV of the United Kingdom).
He was commissioned as a subaltern, with the rank of lieutenant, into the 3rd (Militia) Battalion of the South Staffordshire Regiment in February 1885. In November 1886 he transferred to the Royal Fusiliers, and the Regular Army. His early career with his new regiment, however, was blighted by several bouts of illness and he spent much of his time in administrative and staff roles.
He was promoted to captain, on augmentation, in April 1898. In 1899 he volunteered to serve as a special service officer at Mafeking, South Africa and was given the duty of training a squadron of the Protectorate Regiment.
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This entry incorporates text from “Charles FitzClarence” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.