1. Charles Davis Lucas was a junior officer in the Royal Navy when he was awarded the very first Victoria Cross, but in which theatre of the Crimean War was he serving when he received it?
From Quiz For Valour: Recipients of the Victoria Cross
Answer:
Baltic Sea
Charles Davis Lucas was born in 1834 in Poyntzpass, a town in County Armagh in Ireland. At the age of 13, he joined the Royal Navy, initially serving aboard the Second Rate Ship of the Line HMS Vengeance. By the time he reached the age of 20, he had reached the grade of "passed midshipman", meaning he was ranked as a midshipman, but had passed the lieutenant's examination and was awaiting the opening of a vacancy for promotion. During this period, he was assigned to the paddlewheel steam sloop HMS Hecla, under the command of Captain William Hutcheon Hall, which was undertaking reconnaissance work in the Baltic Sea as part of British operations during the Crimean War.
On 21 June 1854, HMS Hecla, alongside two other ships, was undertaking a bombardment of a fort on the island of Åland called Bomarsund. During this action, in which the fort was returning fire against the British squadron, a live shell landed on Hecla's deck with its fuse still alight. Although the deck crew were ordered to take cover, Lucas instead ran and grabbed the shell, throwing it into the sea where it exploded before hitting the water. Lucas's action ensured that no member of the ship's company was killed or seriously wounded and saw him immediately promoted to lieutenant by his ship's captain. Eighteen months later, a new decoration for valour was instituted - the Victoria Cross. Backdated to the start of the Crimean War, Lucas's actions aboard HMS Hecla saw him become chronologically the first person to be awarded the new decoration when he received his medal on 24 February 1857.