Joseph John FarmerVC (15 May 1854 – 30 June 1930) 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.
He attended school in King's Cross, and thereafter was apprenticed to the building trade. However, at the age of 13 years he went to sea with the Mercantile Marine serving aboard English and American ships. In 1875, he was shipwrecked off the Isle of Wight, and again a year later in a hurricane off Hong Kong. He left the sea in 1878, and on returning home he fell ill with smallpox.[1]
Whilst still under medical care he saved the life of a delirious patient who tried to jump out of a window. When he had recovered from his illness, he took an appointment as a night porter to look after demented patients. Another similar appointment followed, and after having his interest in medical matters further awakened he joined the Army Hospital Corps on 27 February 1879. Following a course in anatomy and ambulance work he left for the Cape of Good Hope.[2]
When the South African War broke out he served in a Field Hospital. He then served in the relief column sent to the beleaguered garrisons of Potchefstroom and Lydenburg, and saw action at Laing's Nek and again at Majuba Hill.
For conspicuous bravery during the engagement with the Boers at the Majuba Mountain, on the 27th February, 1881, when he showed a spirit of self-abnegation and an example of cool courage which cannot be too highly commended. While the Boers closed with the British troops near the wells, Corporal Farmer held a white flag over the wounded, and when the arm holding the flag was shot through, he called out that he had "another." He then raised the flag with the other arm, and continued to do so until that also was pierced with a bullet.[4]
joseph, john, farmer, 1854, june, 1930, english, recipient, victoria, cross, highest, most, prestigious, award, gallantry, face, enemy, that, awarded, british, commonwealth, forces, born, 1854, 1854clerkenwell, londondied30, june, 1930, 1930, aged, mount, vern. Joseph John Farmer VC 15 May 1854 30 June 1930 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 Joseph John FarmerBorn 1854 05 15 15 May 1854Clerkenwell LondonDied30 June 1930 1930 06 30 aged 76 Mount Vernon Hospital Northwood MiddlesexBuriedBrompton CemeteryAllegiance United KingdomService wbr branch British ArmyYears of service1879 1881RankCorporalUnitArmy Hospital CorpsBattles warsAnglo Zulu WarFirst Boer WarAwardsVictoria Cross Funerary monument Brompton Cemetery London Detail Contents 1 Early life 2 Details 3 Further information 4 The medal 5 References 6 External linksEarly life editHe attended school in King s Cross and thereafter was apprenticed to the building trade However at the age of 13 years he went to sea with the Mercantile Marine serving aboard English and American ships In 1875 he was shipwrecked off the Isle of Wight and again a year later in a hurricane off Hong Kong He left the sea in 1878 and on returning home he fell ill with smallpox 1 Whilst still under medical care he saved the life of a delirious patient who tried to jump out of a window When he had recovered from his illness he took an appointment as a night porter to look after demented patients Another similar appointment followed and after having his interest in medical matters further awakened he joined the Army Hospital Corps on 27 February 1879 Following a course in anatomy and ambulance work he left for the Cape of Good Hope 2 When the South African War broke out he served in a Field Hospital He then served in the relief column sent to the beleaguered garrisons of Potchefstroom and Lydenburg and saw action at Laing s Nek and again at Majuba Hill Details editFarmer was first utilised treating the wounded from the Battle of Ulundi during the Anglo Zulu War 3 He was 26 years old and a provisional lance corporal in the Army Hospital Corps later Royal Army Medical Corps British Army during the First Boer War when the following deed took place on 27 February 1881 at Majuba Hill in South Africa for which he was awarded the VC For conspicuous bravery during the engagement with the Boers at the Majuba Mountain on the 27th February 1881 when he showed a spirit of self abnegation and an example of cool courage which cannot be too highly commended While the Boers closed with the British troops near the wells Corporal Farmer held a white flag over the wounded and when the arm holding the flag was shot through he called out that he had another He then raised the flag with the other arm and continued to do so until that also was pierced with a bullet 4 Further information editHe later achieved the rank of corporal He was forced to leave the army due to his wounds and joined the Corps of Commissionaires and then became a house painter The medal editHis Victoria Cross is displayed at the Army Medical Services Museum in Aldershot England References edit Pte J Farmer Later awarded the V C Archived copy PDF Archived from the original PDF on 15 July 2011 Retrieved 10 January 2011 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link RAMC Journal Archived 15 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine No 24973 The London Gazette 17 May 1881 p 2553 Monuments to Courage David Harvey 1999 The Register of the Victoria Cross This England 1997 Victoria Crosses of the Anglo Boer War Ian Uys 2000 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Joseph John Farmer nbsp Biography portal Location of grave and VC medal Brompton Cemetery Lance Corporal J J Farmer Joseph John Farmer at Find a Grave Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Joseph John Farmer amp oldid 1127559977, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
