| Alexander Dunn earned the Victoria Cross as a 21-year-old
lieutenant in the Charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimean War.
Her was born in York, Upper Canada, Sept. 15, 1833. He was a
member of the 11th Prince Albert's Own Regiment of Light Dragoons
(Hussars) in the British Army.
The VC citation read:
| During the Charge of the Light Brigade at
Balaclava, Lt. Dunn, one of the handsomest men of his day and
one of the finest swordsmen and horsemen in the army, won the
Victoria Cross.
"Having emptied his revolver at the Russians he flung it
at them and resorted to his sabre, which he used to good effect.
Dunn stood 6-foot-3 and used a sword much longer than the
regulations permitted. He saved Sgt. Bentley's life by cutting
down several Russians who were attacking him.
"He then saved another life cutting down another Russian
Hussar who was attacking Pte. Levett, 11th Hussars." |
Af ter the war, Dunn helped organize the 100th (Prince of Wales Royal
Canadian) Regiment of Foot, a British
unit raised in Canada. He later became its commanding officer in
Gibraltar.
He died and was buried at Senafe, Abyssinia, on Jan. 25, 1868, when
his hunting rifle accidentally discharged.
Special note: Dunn's grave went unattended in Senafe (what is
now Eritrea) until a group of Canadian UN soldiers from CFB Gagetown
spent days uncovering the site and cleaning it up (the site had been
used as a garbage dump in the village) in early 2001. Some
discussion has been had concerning the exhumation of Dunn and the return
of his body to Canada.
The photo on the right is of the graveyard with Dunn's cross built
into a cairn by the soldiers from Gagetown.
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