Robert Turner

Robert Turner (11 October 1820 – 24 June 1910) was a British Army soldier of the Regiment of Royal Artillery. He joined the artillery in 1840 and served with them in the aftermath of the 1848 Young Ireland rebellion and on garrison duty in Jamaica. Turner saw action in the Crimean War at the Battle of the Alma, Siege of Sevastopol and the Battle of Inkerman. During the latter he assisted with the distribution of ammunition after the soldier allocated to this was killed, and was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal.

In 1867, he was appointed as bombardier at Fort Belvedere in Windsor Great Park. His responsibilities included firing salutes from cannon on royal birthdays. He was visited at the fort by Queen Victoria and by 1880 achieved some fame as "the oldest soldier in the Royal Artillery". He remained at the post under Victoria's successor Edward VII and served until his death.

Early life and career

Turner was born at Hemingstone, Suffolk, on 11 October 1820. He enlisted with the Royal Artillery and was drafted into the regiment at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich on 25 November 1840. Turner was stationed at Woolwich until the 1848 Young Ireland rebellion when his unit was sent to reinforce British forces in Ireland. After the suppression of the rebellion he accompanied his regiment on a five-year posting to Port Royal in the Colony of Jamaica. While serving as a driver, mounted on a limber horse, he noted that the soldier distributing ammunition had been killed. Turner picked up the fallen man's ammunition box and continued his work. The box was struck many times by bullets but Turner was unharmed. After the war he was garrisoned in London. In the late 19th century Queen Victoria often visited the fort on summer afternoon carriage drives to take tea and converse with Turner. Turner received the Army Long Service and Good Conduct Medal and, in 1897, the Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee Medal. His funeral was held at the church in Sunningdale and was attended by hundreds of people, including British Army officers and a fellow Crimean War veteran. Turner's coffin was draped with the Union Flag atop which was placed his service shako. The coffin sat on a gun carriage drawn by five horses and was escorted by a mounted detachment of the 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays). Turner's tunic, dating from circa 1890, and medals are in the collection of the National Army Museum.