On the 30th of March the incident occurred which procured for Lieutenant-Colonel McNeill the honour of the Victoria Cross. He holds the appointment of aide-de-camp to General Cameron, who was then at Pukerimu, and had occasion to communicate with Brigadier Carey, who was in command at Awamutu. The distance from Pukerimu to Awamutu is eighteen miles; midway between these two stations stands the redoubt of Ohapau, occupied by a detachment of the 40th Regiment. Rough bridges have been erected at the different creeks, but there is no regular road, merely a native path leading through the bush. Near Ohapau is a clump of trees admirably adapted for an ambuscade. Lieutenant-Colonel McNeill had no other escort than a private of the Defence Force (a colonial corps consisting of 250 troopers) of the name of Vosper, who acted as his orderly. Nothing remarkable occurred during the journey till they had occasion to pass the clump of trees near Ohapau, when a party of insurgents opened fire upon them. Private Vosper was thrown from his horse, and Lieutenant-Colonel McNeill succeeded in catching him. Vosper then remounted, and both rode off. The fire of the Maoris is said to have been very close and very severe; under such circumstances the escape of the horses and riders without being grazed by a single bullet is little short of miraculous. It is unfortunate, perhaps, that there were no other spectators of the scene than the immediate actors. Private Vosper has to vouch for the gallantry of Lieutenant-Colonel McNeill, and Lieutenant-Colonel McNeill for the danger incurred by Private Vosper. When the affair was reported to General Cameron, he recommended his aide-de-camp for the decoration of the Cross of Valour; and he was duly invested with it on the 6th of December, in the presence of all the troops that could be assembled to witness this interesting ceremony.