Robert Kells was awarded the Victoria Cross for giving aid to Captain William Drysdale for whom he was orderly. The battle at Bulandshahr was fought by the 9th Lancers at the end of the siege of Delhi. The regiment was part of Colonel Greathed’s flying column chasing the mutineers that had fled the city. On 28 Sep 1857 they caught up with a large body of the enemy in a defensive position at Bulandshahr. Drysdale led a charge but his horse was shot and he broke his collarbone as he fell. Kells and Private Henry Jordan defended him against the rebels who were closing in. They were given help to bring the officer to safety and praised for their bravery. Drysdale, Kells and Jordan were all recommended for the VC but only Robert Kells was granted the award.
Robert William Kells was born on 7 April 1832, in Meerut, the son of a soldier serving in India. He was a boy soldier in the 9th Lancers at the age of 12 years and 9 months. He was at the battles of Chillianwallah and Gujrat when aged 17. He fought throughout the Indian Mutiny as a lance-corporal, and gazetted for the Victoria Cross on 24 Dec 1858, but did not receive his medal until 1860 when it was presented to him at Allahabad. The 9th Lancers had returned to England but he stayed in India, having transferred to the 1st Bengal European Light Cavalry. This regiment became the 19th Hussars and he served with them with the rank of sergeant until he had a fall from his horse, and being sick from disease, he was discharged on 14 Nov 1868. He moved to England, a country he had never visited, and lived in Blackfriars Road, London.
He joined the Yeomen of the Guard at the Tower of London on 1 Jan 1881. He died on 14 April 1905 at Lambeth. His medals are on display at the regimental museum in Derby, having been loaned to the museum by the anonymous buyer who bought them in March 2005 for 130,000 pounds. They consist of the VC, the Punjab Medal with two clasps, the Mutiny medal with three clasps, the Long Service and Good Conduct medal, and three medals earned as a Yeoman of the Guard.
