A Victoria Cross awarded to an Irishman who took part in a gallant last stand in Afghanistan in 1879 fetched £67,500 at a London auction yesterday. And a VC to another Irishman, for his part in a bloody action against Mahsud fighters at Kotkai in Waziristan on the North-West Frontier in 1920, made £58,700 at the sale by medal specialists Spink's.
The first VC was to Lieut Walter Hamilton, of Inistioge, Co Kilkenny, who was serving in the cavalry arm of the Corps of Guides when he won the award in the early stages of the Second Afghan War.
While leading a charge against far superior enemy forces, one of his men was thrown from his horse.
Hamilton turned back and rushed to his aid, cutting down three of the enemy and saving the Indian soldier's life.
But his place in British military history was assured a few months later when Hamilton was the mainstay in one of the most heroic last stands ever effected by combined British and Indian forces.
At the Bala Hissar in Kabul he charged the enemy, killing five men, and stood single-handed in defence of his men before being overwhelmed and hacked to pieces.
Mr David Erskine-Hill, of Spink's, said: "News of Hamilton's stirring deeds quickly spread back home in Ireland and throughout the empire. His heroics would have earned him another VC - but posthumous awards were not allowed in those days."
The second VC was to "tall, strong, red-haired" Lieut William Kenny, from Saintfield, Co Down, educated at Mount joy School.
Obeying the frontier code that wounded men should never be left on the battlefield, he took a handful of men back into the teeth of the Mahsud advance to ensure his wounded comrades could be evacuated. After holding his position for four hours, he died, according to his citation, "fighting to the last".
Kenny's VC, and another, awarded to Private Richard Burton for wiping out three German machine-gun nests after storming Monte Ceco in Italy in 1944, which fetched £45,000, were bought by the same anonymous buyer in the sale room. Hamilton's VC was also bought privately.