A rare Maori Wars Victoria Cross winner’s Turkish Crimea Medal and re-impressed Victorian Distinguished Conduct Medal pair to Drummer Dudley Stagpole, 57th Regiment, who was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for the action at Kaipakopako on 25th September 1863, during which action he was wounded in the head and twice volunteered to bring in wounded men, and then, at Poutoko, on 2 October 1863, with Ensign Down, was awarded the Victoria Cross for bringing in a wounded comrade under close and heavy fire.
Pair: Distinguished Conduct Medal, V.R. (D. STAGPOOLE), erased and contemporaily rather crudely re-impressed; Turkish Crimea Medal, Sardinian issue, fitted with fixed silver loop and ring suspension, with distinctive grey solder marks, with typical regimentally impressed naming (2843 DR. DUDLEY. STAGPOOL. 57th REGT.)
Condition. Naming as described above, note variation in spelling of surname, minor edge bruising and light contact wear throughout, particularly at the nine o’clock position resulting ‘57th’ now being very feint and hard to discern.
Drummer Stagpoole was born at Killunan, County Galway, Ireland, in 1838 and was approximately 25 years old, and a Drummer in the 57th Regiment (later The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own)), British Army, during the Waikato-Hauhau Maori War, New Zealand, when the action for which he was awarded The Victoria Cross took place.
Victoria Cross, London Gazette, 23 September 1864. For Pontoko, New Zealand, 2nd October 1863, Drummer Dudley Stagpoole and Ensign John Thornton Down, 57th ( West Middlesex ) Regiment. The recommendation states:
“For their conduct at Pontoko, on 2nd October, in rescuing a wounded comrade from the rebel Maories. They succeeded in bringing in the wounded man, who was lying at about fifty yards from the bush, although the enemy kept up a very heavy fire from the bush at short range, and also from behind fallen logs close at hand. The man had been wounded during an engagement with the rebel natives, and Ensign Down, and Drummer Stagpoole, responded to the call of the Officer commanding the detachment of the Regiment for volunteers to bring him in. The Medal for Distinguished Conduct in the Field has already been conferred on Drummer Stagpoole, for the energy and devotion which he displayed on the 25th September, 1863, at the affair near Kaipakopako, in having, though wounded in the head, twice volunteered and brought in wounded men.”
Stagpoole was invested with his Victoria Cross by Brigadier General R Waddy, at Wananui, New Zealand, on the 24 January 1866
Distinguished Conduct Medal, London Gazette, 23 September 1864. For the award of the Distinguished Conduct Medal, Drummer Dudley Stagpoole, 57th ( West Middlesex ) Regiment, the reason for his award is stated in his VC recommendation:
“The Medal for Distinguished Conduct in the Field has been conferred on Drummer Stagpoole, for the energy and devotion which he displayed on the 25th September 1863, at the affair near Kaipakopako, in having, though wounded in the head, twice volunteered and brought in wounded men.”
His military service amounted some 21 years of which overseas service included two years served on Malta, 9 months in the Crimea, six and a half years in New Zealand, and nearly three years in India. He died at Ware, Hertfordshire, England, on 1 August 1911, and is buried at the Hendon Park Cemetery, Ware, Hertfordshire, England.
Numerous photographs survive of the recipient wearing his medals and the Turkish Crimea in the photographs is fitted with an identical suspension and what appear to be matching solder marks to this medal.
The Turkish Crimea Medal that is now on display with Stagpoole’s Victoria Cross group at the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment & Queen's Regiment RHQ, Canterbury, has a very different suspension to the medal pictured worn by the recipient. It also appears to be in significantly better condition to the other medals in the current display.
The medals were possibly transposed on account of the condition of this medal, in particular the rather crude way in which the suspension of this medal has been modified resulting in several obvious solder stains, or perhaps due to the fact that the recipient’s name is spelt incorrectly on this medal - without an ‘e’ at the end.
The addition of period re-named Distinguished Conduct Medal is puzzling and the reason for its existence may only come to light if an opportunity ever arose to compare it with the DCM that currently resides in the VC grouping. Is this Stagpoole’s original DCM?
Stagpoole’s complete group consists of the Victoria Cross; Distinguished Conduct Medal; Crimea Medal with Sebastopol clasp; New Zealand Medal; Army Long service and Good Conduct Medal, Turkish Crimea Medal.
