John Perie VC (1831 – 17 September 1874) was a Scottish recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

forces.

Details

Perie was born in Gartly, north-west of

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

on 7 April 1821. Perie was approximately 25 years old, and a

sapper A sapper, also called a combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing field defenses ...

in the Royal Sappers and Miners,

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

during the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. On 18 June 1855 during the Siege of Sevastopol, Sapper Perie showed conspicuous gallantry, with a lieutenant ( Gerald Graham) in leading a ladder party at the assault on the Redan. He also volunteered to go with the lieutenant to help bring in a wounded sailor lying in the open, even though he was himself suffering from a musket wound in the side. He died at 69 East North Street in Aberdeen on 17 September 1874 and was buried in the "Strangers Land" (communal paupers grave) of St Peter's Cemetery in north Aberdeen.

The medal

His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Royal Engineers Museum in Chatham,

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

Family

He was married to Isabella Howie (1834–1901) and had four children, most of whom began spelling their name as "Pirie".

References

Monuments to Courage David Charles Harvey (29 July 1946 – 4 March 2004) was a British historian and author. He is notable for his seminal work, ''Monuments To Courage'', which documents the graves of almost all recipients of the Victoria Cross, a task that took ...

(David Harvey, 1999) *

The Register of the Victoria Cross ''The Register of the Victoria Cross'' is a reference work that provides brief information on every Victoria Cross awarded until the publication date. Each entry provides a summary of the deed, along with a photograph of the recipient and the f ...

(This England, 1997) * The Sapper VCs (Gerald Napier, 1998) *Scotland's Forgotten Valour (Graham Ross, 1995)

External links

Royal Engineers Museum
Sappers VCs

''(Grampian)'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Perie, John British recipients of the Victoria Cross Crimean War recipients of the Victoria Cross British Army personnel of the Crimean War British Army personnel of the Second Opium War Royal Engineers soldiers 1831 births 1874 deaths People from Gartly British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross