Nevill Coghill (VC)

Nevill Josiah Aylmer Coghill VC (25 January 1852 – 22 January 1879) was an 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.

Family
Born in Drumcondra, Dublin, Coghill was the eldest son of Sir John Joscelyn Coghill (1826–1905), 4th Bt., J.P., D.L., of Drumcondra, Co. Dublin (see Coghill baronets), and his wife, the Hon. Katherine Frances Plunket, daughter of John Plunket, 3rd Baron Plunket. He was a nephew of David Plunket, 1st Baron Rathmore and William Plunket, 4th Baron Plunket. The painter Sir Egerton Coghill, 5th Baronet was his younger brother.

Details
Coghill was twenty-five years old and a lieutenant in the 1st Battalion, 24th Regiment of Foot (later the South Wales Borderers), British Army, during the Zulu War, when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 22 January 1879, after the disaster of the Battle of Isandhlwana, South Africa, Lieutenant Coghill joined another officer (Teignmouth Melvill) who was trying to save the Queen's Colour of the Regiment. They were pursued by Zulu warriors, and while crossing the swollen River Buffalo, Lieutenant Coghill went to the rescue of his brother officer, who had lost his horse and was in great danger. The two men were eventually overtaken by the enemy and, following a short but gallant struggle, both were killed.

Coghill and Melvill were amongst the first soldiers to receive the VC posthumously in 1907. Initially the London Gazette mentioned that had they survived they would have been awarded the VC.

Coghill was portrayed by Christopher Cazenove in the film Zulu Dawn.

The medal
Coghill's Victoria Cross is displayed at the South Wales Borderers Museum in Brecon, Powys, Wales.