“Colour-Sergeant John Lucas, 40th Regiment.—On the 18th of March, 1861, Colour-Sergeant John Lucas acted as sergeant of a party of the 40th Regiment, employed as skirmishers, to the right of No. 7 redoubt and close to the Huirangi Bush, facing the left of the position occupied by the natives. At about four o’clock P.M. a very heavy and well-directed fire was suddenly opened upon them from the bush and the high ground on the left. Three men being wounded simultaneously, two of them mortally, assistance was called for in order to have them carried to the rear; a file was immediately sent, but had scarcely arrived when one of them fell, and Lieutenant Rees was wounded at the same time. Colour-Sergeant Lucas, under a very heavy fire from the rebels, who were not more than thirty yards distant, immediately ran up to the assistance of this officer, and sent one man with him to the rear. He then took charge of the arms belonging to the killed and wounded men, and maintained his position until the arrival of supports under Lieutenants Gibson and Whelan.” [Illustration: Sergeant-Major Lucas, 40th Regiment, defending a position against the Maoris on the 18th March, 1861.] On the 2nd of November, 1862, all the troops in garrison at Auckland were assembled on the racecourse to witness the decoration of Sergeant-Major Lucas with the Cross of Valour. The soldiers formed a square, in the centre of which stood General Cameron and his staff. The sergeant-major took his stand in front of them, and the gallant old general, after expressing his admiration of his conduct, which he invited his comrades to imitate, placed on his breast that distinctive mark of his Sovereign’s favour which is dearer to the soldier’s heart than any other. Our readers will feel with us the hope that Sergeant-Major Lucas may long be spared to wear it, and to take part in other wars reflecting more credit on our arms and our honour as a nation than the present struggle in Zealand. [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER XXVI. THE HEROES OF THE VICTORIA CROSS IN NEW ZEALAND. We have already described some of these heroes, and the gallant deeds by which they earned the Cross of Valour. We have shown how Sergeant Lucas, of the 40th, defended two of his wounded comrades from the attacks of the Maoris till a party was sent to his relief; how McKenna of the 65th stood by his dying officer to the last, and proved himself worthy of the command that had devolved upon him, by conducting his comrades through the fire of the enemy and the intricacies of the bush to the redoubt which they had left; how Samuel Mitchell, that true-hearted sailor, stood by Commander Hay, of the _Esk_, in the Gate Pa at Tauranga, and refused to leave him till all was over.