Walter Norris Congreve

General Sir Walter Norris Congreve, (20 November 1862 – 28 February 1927), was a British Army officer in the Second Boer War and the First World War, and Governor of Malta from 1924 to 1927. He received the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Early life Walter Norris Congreve was the son of William and Fanny E. Congreve of Castle Church, Stafford. He was educated at Twyford School, Harrow School and Pembroke College, Oxford. Early military career Congreve was commissioned a lieutenant in the Rifle Brigade on 7 February 1885 and promoted to captain on 6 December 1893. Second Boer War The Second Boer War started in October 1899 with a Boer offensive into the British-held Natal and Cape Colony areas. Congreve arrived in South Africa and was posted as a brigade major in the Ladysmith relief force. He was present at the Battle of Colenso when British troops commanded by Sir Redvers Buller attempted to cross the Tugela River to relieve the besieged city of Ladysmith. The Boers repelled all their attempts to cross the river, and the British were forced to retreat in one of their biggest defeats of the war.