References
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Victoria Cross | UK | VIEW SOURCE |
Garrett O'Moore Creagh was born in County Clare on the 2nd of April 1848. His father, James, was a captain in the Royal Navy.
As a young man, Creagh enlisted in the British military services. He trained at the Royal Military College in Sandshurst before being placed in the 95th Derbyshire Regiment of Foot.
In 1869, Creagh was posted to India and was later transferred into the British Indian Army.
When he was 31 years old, Creagh, by now a captain, was involved in the Second Anglo-Afghan War. On the 22nd of April 1879, he was in Kam Dakka on the Kabul River in Afghanistan when he and his men were attacked by enemy soldiers. The people of Kam Dakka sided with the attackers and turned on Creagh and the rest of the men. Creagh led a retreat to a cemetery where he made a defensive stand. He held strong until a relief detatchement arrived. The Commander-in-Chief of India at the time commended Creagh for his cool thinking and gallantry, and credited him with saving the British soldiers from certain death.
For his actions on that day, Creagh was awarded the prestigious Victoria Cross.
Creagh's military career continued on a upward trajectory, with him eventually reaching the rand of General and also receiving a knighthood.
He married twice, first to a woman named Mary Longfield, who died in 1876, and then to a woman named Elizabeth Reade with whom he had 3 children.
Creagh died in London on the 9th of August 1923.
| Additional Information | ||
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| Date of Birth | 2nd Apr 1848 | VIEW SOURCE |
| Date of Death | 9th Aug 1923 | VIEW SOURCE |
