Resilience and bravery: Nova Scotia honours first Black man to win Victoria Cross - Medicine Hat NewsMedicine Hat News medicinehatnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from medicinehatnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
William Hall's courage on the battlefield in 1857 led him to become the first Black person awarded the Victoria Cross, Britain's highest military decoration. On Monday, Nova Scotia's annual Heritage Day, the province will pay tribute to Hall.
William Neilson Edward Hall
Photo Credit: Veterans Affairs Canada
William Edward Hall was the first Nova Scotian, and the First Black person, to receive the Victoria Cross.
The Victoria Cross is the highest honour for bravery and valour that can be awarded to members of the British Armed Forces.
According to
The London Gazette of Feb. 1, 1859, Hall was awarded the illustrious medal, along with Lieutenant James Young, “for their gallant conduct at a 24-Pounder Gun, brought up to the angle of the Shah Nujjiff, at Lucknow, on the 16th of November, 1857.”
As “Captain of the Foretop” onboard HMS Shannon, Hall and a brigade of soldiers were ordered to Calcutta (now Kolkata), India, to relieve the British garrison which was under siege in Lucknow.