John Cook (VC)

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Victoria Cross Medal.

John Cook (August 28, 1843 - December 18, 1879) was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

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[edit] Details

He was 35 years old, and a captain in the Bengal Staff Corps, Indian Army, and 5th Gurkha Rifles during the Second Afghan War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 2 December 1878 at the Peiwar Kotal, Afghanistan, Captain Cook, through heavy fire, charged out of the entrenchments with such impetuosity that the enemy broke and fled. At the close of the melee, seeing that a major was in personal conflict with an Afghan soldier, Captain Cook distracted attention to himself and a hand-to-hand encounter ensued, during which both men fell to the ground. The Afghan seized the captain's arm in his teeth until the struggle was ended by the man being shot in the head.

He was killed in action, Sherpur, Afghanistan, on December 19, 1879.