SEAMAN JAMES GORMAN VC. Introduction. I have spent considerable time over the last 29 years researching the life and service of James Gorman VC. Assisted by other historians, I am now convinced this is the full and true story . This lengthy research was required to correct stories (written by historians over the past one hundred and twenty five years) using a mixture of information on the lives of three men named James Gorman who had served in the Royal Navy between the 2 nd March 1848 and 21 st August 1860. The writers of these previous stories were further mislead when James Devereux of Southwark (b Suffolk, 1819) claimed that he had joined the Navy as James Gorman and had been awarded a Victoria Cross for his action’s at Sebastopol. 1 My research has confirmed that James Devereux was an impostor, who following James Gorman’s departure for Australia successfully convinced his family and the British press that he was James H. Gorman VC. Of the other three named James Gorman, while two were discharged from the Navy in disgrace the third about whom this story is written, was awarded a Victoria Cross for his courageous devotion to duty at the Battle of Inkermann on the 5 th November,1854. James Devereux may have believed that he was entitled to a Victoria Cross. He may have even deserved it and been recommended for it. It is possible he was, as he claimed, at Sebastopol under the command of Midshipman William Nathan Wrighte Hewett (later Vice Admiral) on the 26th October 1854 and had participated in the action for which Hewett was awarded a Victoria Cross. The one thing is certain is he was not James Gorman VC. Despite never producing his medals, Devereux’s story convinced successive historians in the UK from the 1880s till 1979, that he was the recipient of the Victoria Cross. An Australian Publication ‘They Dared Mightily ’ first published the truth about the Devereux fraud in 1986. The current edition of ‘ The Register of Victoria Cross ’ has finally printed the correct details and deleted any reference to Devereux. The following facts are recorded in regard of the service of the two other James Gorman’s. AB Wm Gorman served on HMS Shannon and was eligible for the Indian Mutiny Medal 1857-1858 with the Lucknow Clasp. In 1862 he was discharged from the Navy in disgrace. 1 Sad Death of a Hero, The South London Press, Saturday, 4 January 1890. Seaman James Gorman while serving on HMS Woodcock in September 1857 had been wrongly paid the VC Pension awarded to James Gorman VC. Seaman James Gorman was imprisoned in Hong Kong in 1859 before he was discharged in disgrace 2. His Life in the Navy. Captain of the Afterguard James Gorman VC was born in Islington, Middlesex, on 21 August 1834. His parents were Patrick James Gorman, a Nurseryman, and his wife Ann (nee Furlong). Patrick and Ann had married at St Martin in the Fields Church, Trafalgar Square Westminster on 23 November 1829. Aged thirteen years, James was one of the first intake of two hundred boys to be accepted into the Royal Navy as a apprentice 3, He was assigned to HMS Victory as a boy second class, 2 March 1848. The 2,164 ton Victory, her keel laid at Chatham in 1759, was completed and launched at Chatham, 7 May 1765. She remained afloat for over 150 years. Victory carried 104 guns, 30 on the lower gun deck and 15x32 pounders on both sides. She was 227 ft in length and had a beam of 52ft and a draught of 25ft. Her crew consisted of over 800 men, only a tenth of these were used to sail her, the rest were used only in battle. HMS Victory was described as the largest and finest ship ever built and was Admiral Horatio Nelson's Flagship at Trafalgar. At the completion of six months training on board the HMS Victory , Gorman was transferred with sixty nine other apprentices to HMS Rolla . A paddle wheel and sail tender to Victory , she was a 231 ton " Cherokee " Class 10 gun brig sloop that had been completed in 1829 in Plymouth Dockyard. HMS Rolla cruised in the channel until the youngsters were declared fit to serve aboard regular naval vessels 4. Impressing his instructors, Gorman, was kept beyond his allotted time on HMS Rolla to act as an instructor for the second intake of apprentices. At the completion of this duty he was appointed to HMS Dragon for a few weeks before joining the Howe , where he stayed until 12 July 1850. After a short stay on the floating barracks Queen , James joined HMS Albion as a Boy First Class on 13 July 1850. His service records show that at that time he was 5ft 2in tall, with blue eyes, light brown hair and a ruddy complexion. It was recorded that he had been vaccinated against Smallpox 5. James was promoted to Ordinary Seaman 2nd Class 13 May 1852 and, two months later, to Able Seaman. It was with this rank that Gorman served as a member of the Naval Brigade in the Crimea. The Brigade, consisting of 1.020 officers and men from Her Majesty’s Ships Albion , Britannia , Bellerophon , Diamond , London , Queen , Rodney , Trafalgar and Vengeance , were placed under the Command of Captain Stephen Lushington of the Albion . The Naval Brigade had been formed at the request of Lord Raglan who had asked the Navy for assistance. At first the sailors only worked around the camps in a non combatant role then as more of the Soldiers were either killed or wounded they were replaced by the Sailors 6. The Crimean War was the first engagement where newspaper correspondents were allowed to accompany the troops and report first hand from the battlefield to London Newspapers. Reports by William Howard Russell of The Times were favoured by readers who believed them to be the most graphic. In describing the Battle of Inkermann, Russell quoted Lushingtons own words, “The battle commenced at half past seven on a cold misty morning and was a determined attempt by the 2 ADM171/29; Officers and Men who are entitled to Indian Medal and clasps as stated; PMG16/10. Victoria Cross Pensions for Conspicuous Gallantry; Born, Waterford, Ireland, 7.1.1829. Joined Woodcock from Dauntless, 13.3.1857. Imprisoned Hong Kong and discharged 15.2.1859, Woodcock muster shows him still in prison 20.9.1860. 3 ADM38/7844 HM Ship Coquette, Description of Seamen 30 November 1855 to 17 July 1860; BDM, Page 47 Entry 517; New South Wales Legislative Council 1868-69, Report from the Select Committee on The Training ship “Vernon”, with Gorman’s evidence p.p.24/34. 4 The Muster and Description books for the “Victory”; New South Wales Legislative Council 1868-69; op. cit., pp.24/34; O’Byrne’s Naval Annual for 1855. 5 New South Wales Legislative Council 1868-69; op. cit., p.p.24/34; ADM38/2378 HM Ship Albion, April-June 1851; Albion Muster Book; ADM38/7489 HM Ship Albion 29 May 1850 to 5 January 1856, Description of Seamen, 6 ADM38/7844 HM Ship Coquette, Description of Seamen 30th November 1855 to 17th July 1860; ADM171/24 1854-55- Crimea War Medal Roll of the Naval Brigade; John Winton, Able Seaman James Gorman VC; was he, or was he not , an Aussie? .Seascape , No 24, April 1989 Russians to force the British from the heights above the town of Sebastopol, a long day of heavy fighting followed and the Russians were eventually driven back” 7. This brief and understated quote does little to describe one of the bloodiest and confusing battles ever fought by the British. Whose soldiers, outnumbered four to one, engaged in desperate hand to hand fighting till they finally repulsed the Russians. It was when a lightly defended British position appeared to be overwhelmed by the Russians, that James Gorman and his comrades performed their own desperate act of bravery. Russell reported the determination of the five sailors from the Albion who, as the Russians advanced up the Careenage Ravine inflicting heavy casualties on the British, were ordered to withdraw and leave the wounded. They replied that “They wouldn’t trust any Ivan getting within bayonet range of the wounded”. The five sailors then mounted the defence works B anquette. With the help of the wounded soldiers lying in the trench below them, who were reloading rifles and passing them up, they were able to keep up a continual and rapid rate of firing. This drove the enemy back three times when they were within 40 yards of the wounded soldiers. The Russians finally fell back and gave them no more trouble. Victory did not come cheaply. Two of these brave sailors, Thomas Geoghegan who had just returned from being treated for wounds he had received at Sebastopol and John Woods were killed during the battle. During the following week James Gorman once again distinguished himself when he rescued Captain Lushington after Lushington had been surrounded and unhorsed by enemy troops. Gorman badly wounded was returned to the Albion on 12 December 1854 where his left leg was amputated. Gorman remained onboard the Albion while Reeves and Scholefield stayed ashore until September 1855. On the 7 June 1856, James Gorman, Thomas Reaves and Mark Scholefield were recommended by Sir Stephen Lushington to Queen Victoria as being worthy recipients of the Victoria Cross. On the 24 February 1857 their names appeared amongst the 82 whom the Queen had conferred this very special honour 8.