William Norman
grave (1832 to 13th March 1896)
I struggled
to locate this grave. I thought William would be buried in the war graves
section but there was no sign of him. I found him on an island of grass along
with a memorial stone dedicated to all the other soldiers buried in Weaste Cemetery. No wreath, not one flower. There not much
information to find about this soldier and only the odd sepia photo on the
internet. Though presented with a Victoria Cross for bravery by Queen Victoria
in Hyde Park London he was buried in an unmarked grave here where I'm stood
(due to poverty.)
He was born in Warrington and joined the 7th Regiment of Foot (later the
Royal Fusiliers) when he was 22 years old. In 1854 he was fighting in
Sebastopol in the Crimea war. On Tuesday 19th December he was on sentry duty in
White Horse Ravine, a dangerous area strewn with enemy who may suddenly to
stab, strangle or shoot at any time. There’s little information about what
happened but suddenly three Russians who were getting a measure of the terrain
sprang from the foliage and rushed toward him to kill him. Any normal coward
like me would have fled but Norman fought them on his own and took two of them
prisoner without alarming the Russians (not sure if he killed the third.) He
was still only 22-years-old. At that age I was doing skids on my bike or up in
my bedroom blasting space invaders on my ZX Electron.
Later William continued fighting as a solider and achieved the rank of
corporal, leaving the army at 33. He was married and had three children. He
died at home in Hulme aged 64. Money must have been scarce he was buried in an
unmarked grave. The headstone was later provided by the Royal Fusiliers. His
Victoria Cross and other medals are displayed at the Royal Fusiliers Museum in
the Tower of London, England.
As
always…touching the VC…
Revisited in
2021...
