Born in Perth, Upper Canada, and educated in Quebec and Ireland, Reade became an assistant surgeon with the 61st (South Gloucestershire) Regiment in 1850. On September 14, 1857, at the siege of Delhi during the Indian Mutiny, a number of British wounded were threatened by some 300 Sepoys. Reade led a small party of soldiers against the attackers and drove them off. Two days later he was in the forefront of the final assault on Delhi and, for his gallantry on both occasions, was awarded the Victoria Cross. He later returned to England, rising by 1886 to the rank of surgeon general and, two years before his death, was made honorary surgeon to Queen Victoria.

Location

At the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 244, 26 Beckwith Street East, Perth

Themes

• People
• Scientific and technological innovations
• War and conflict