 DEATH OF A V.C. Private Samuel Wassall, V.C., late of the 80th (Staffordshire Volunteers) Foot, now the 2nd Batallion South Staffordshire Regiment, who died at Barrow yesterday, in his 70th year, was present at the disaster of Isandlwana, in the Zulu War, on January 22, 1879. He was awarded the Victoria Cross in the following circumstances :- When the camp was sacked and nearly every man massacred, he was one of a few fugitives who succeeded in reaching the Buffalo River, six miles away. Wassall had just begun to ford the river when he saw one of his comrades, Private Westwood, being carried down the stream, with every appearance that he would be drowned. Though the Zulus were close behind, Wassall without hesitation sprang from his horse, which he tied to a tree on the Zulu bank of the river, swam to his comrade's assistance, and brought him back to the shore. Then, remounting his horse, he urged the animal across the river, dragging the exhausted man by the hand, and succeeded in getting him safely to the opposite side, in spite of brisk fire kept up by the enemy, who had then reached the bank of the river. The Times 1927 OBITUARY The following deaths are announced: Mr. Samuel Wassall, who as a private in the 80th Regiment won the Victoria Cross for saving a comrade's life at Isandhlwana in 1879 during the Zulu War, at Barrow-in-Furness, aged 70. Daily Mail 1927
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