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« on: Thursday 01 June 23 23:32 BST (UK) »
The Nukumaru VC was awarded to Captain Hugh Shaw.
24th January 1865 - New Zealand. Captain Hugh Shaw won the Victoria Cross.
Hugh Shaw was born on 4th February 1839 in Madras, India, the son of James Shaw, Inspector General of Hospitals, and Ann, nee Hay. He was educated at Sandhurst and joined the 18th Regiment of Foot as an Ensign on 10th May 1855. He served in the Crimea from December 1855 until the end of the war.
Shaw then served with the regiment as a Lieutenant in the Indian Mutiny. In 1859, he became the Adjutant, an appointment he held until 1864, when he was promoted to command his own company. In 1864, he was posted with his battalion to New Zealand to fight in the Second Maori War.
On 24th January 1865, at Nukumaru, the British camp was attacked by Maoris, with the men on picket duty involved in the first attacks. Private Connolly of the Royal Irish fell wounded and Captain Shaw went out, with four men who had volunteered to join him, under heavy fire. They moved forward to within thirty yards of the enemy positions in the bush and succeeded in taking Connolly to safety. Shaw’s VC was gazetted on 28th November 1865, and he was presented with his medal in New Zealand sometime in 1866. The men were awarded the DCM. British losses in the fighting were 16 killed and 32 wounded. Four of the dead and 11 wounded were men of the 18th, Royal Irish Regiment. Private J. Brien who had assisted Captain Shaw in rescuing Private Connolly, was killed on 25th January, while Connolly himself died of his wounds.
Shaw married Emily Sheffield at Holy Trinity Church, Bedford on 21st June 1870. They had three daughters - Nina Jane b.1871, Dolores Evangeline and Mabel Annie b.1877. He was Adjutant of the North Tipperary Militia from Jun 1873 to Feb 1878 during which time he was promoted to Major on 1st October 1877. On 22nd May 1878 Shaw rejoined the Royal Irish Regiment and then went on the Afghanistan Campaign with the Kabul Field Force. In September 1881 he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel and subsequently served in the Sudan Campaign. He was promoted Colonel in September 1885 and Major-General in 1887, shortly before he retired from active soldiering. Shaw died on 25th August 1904 in Southsea, Hampshire, aged 65.
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