Sir John Milbanke, 10th Baronet

Lieutenant-Colonel Sir John Peniston Milbanke, 10th Baronet VC (9 October 1872 – 21 August 1915) was an English 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.

Milbanke was born the son of Sir Peniston Milbanke, 9th Baronet, in London. In 1886 he began attendance at Harrow School, where he became a close friend of Winston Churchill. He joined the Army in 1892.

Milbanke was 27 years old, and a lieutenant in the 10th Hussars, British Army during the Second Boer War when the following deed took place near Colesberg for which he was awarded the VC: "On the 5th January, 1900, during a reconnaissance near Colesberg, Sir John Miibanke, when retiring under fire with a small patrol of the 10th Hussars, notwithstanding the fact that he had just been severely wounded in the thigh, rode back to the assistance of one of the men whose pony was exhausted, and who was under fire from some Boers who had dismounted. Sir John Miibanke took the man up on his own horse under a most galling fire and brought him safely back to camp"

In 1914, having retired from the regular army, he became lieutenant-colonel of the Sherwood Rangers. He was killed in action at Suvla, Gallipoli, Turkey, on 21 August 1915 and is commemorated on the Helles Memorial.

The Medal
His Victoria Cross is displayed at The King's Royal Hussars Museum in Winchester, England.