2nd Boer War Victoria Cross Recipient. A native of Ireland, he was gazetted for the award on July 6, 1900 for his actions as a captain in The Royal Fusiliers of the British Army from October 14 through December 26, 1899, at Mafeking, South Africa. He joined the British Royal Fusiliers in 1886 and in 1899 he volunteered to serve as a training office in the 2nd Boer War in South Africa, during which time his gallantry won him the Victoria Cross. Following the war, he rose in rank to brigadier general and afther the outbreak of World War I, he commanded the 1st Guards Brigade was sent to the western Front as part of the British Expeditionary Force and participated in the 1st Battle of Ypres. He was killed in action at Polygon Wood, Zonnebeck, Belgium at the age of 49. His body was never recovered. His Victoria Cross citation reads: "On the 14th October, 1899, Captain FitzClarence went with his squadron of the Protectorate Regiment, consisting of only partially trained men, who had never been in action, to the assistance of an armoured train which had gone out from Mafeking. The enemy were in greatly superior numbers, and the squadron was for a time surrounded, and it looked as if nothing could save them from being shot down. Captain FitzClarence, however, by his personal coolness and courage inspired the greatest confidence in his men, and, by his bold and efficient handling of them, not only succeeded in relieving the armoured train, but inflicted a heavy defeat on the Boers, who lost 50 killed and a large number wounded, his own losses being 2 killed and 15 wounded. The moral effect of this blow had a very important bearing on subsequent encounters with the Boers. On the 27th October, 1899, Captain FitzClarence led his squadron from Mafeking across the open, and made a night attack with the bayonet on one of the enemy's trenches. A hand-to-hand fight took place in the trench, while a heavy fire was concentrated on it from the rear. The enemy was driven out with heavy loss. Captain FitzClarence was the first man into the position and accounted for four of the enemy with his sword. The British lost 6 killed and 9 wounded. Captain FitzClarence was himself slightly wounded. With reference to these two actions, Major-General Baden-Powell states that had this Officer not shown an extraordinary spirit and fearlessness the attacks would have been failures, and we should have suffered heavy loss both in men and prestige. On the 26th December, 1899, during the action at Game Tree, near Mafeking, Captain FitzClarence again distinguished himself by his coolness and courage, and was again wounded (severely through both legs." His Victoria Cross is on display in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery at the British Imperial War Museum in London, England.