On 17 Jan 1858 the 9th Lancers and some other regiments, all under the command of Hope Grant, were sent after a column of 10,000 rebels which had posted themselves at the village of Sutia, half a mile from Shumshabad. In the ensuing battle Private Kidd was wounded and trapped under his horse. Troop Sergeant-Major David Spence saw that Kidd was in danger of being killed by encircling sepoys, and immediately charged into them. He cut his way through, reached the private and helped him get away. Hope Grant recommended him for the VC.
David Spence, a Scotsman, born in 1818, in Inverkeithing, Fife, was a veteran of the regiment, having joined the 9th Lancers on 31 May 1838. He had served in the Gwalior Campaign and was promoted to sergeant shortly before the battle of Punniar in 1843. He fought at Sobraon in the first Sikh War, and was promoted to Troop Sergeant Major in Feb 1848. He was with the regiment for the passage of the Chenab, Chillianwallah and Gujrat. When the Mutiny broke out in 1857 he went with the regiment to Delhi, fought at Budli-ke-Serai and throughout the siege of Delhi. After the battle at Shumahabad, where he was recommended for the VC, he fought at Lucknow.
David Spence managed to have a busy family life in India as well as fighting in many campaigns. He was married at the age of 17 to Elspet Mathieson in 1835 and they went out to India in 1842. They had 17 children of which only 3 survived. They returned to England with the regiment in 1859, and Sergeant-Major Spence was presented with his medal by the Queen in January 1860 at a ceremony at Windsor Castle. He was discharged on 13 Oct 1862 at the age of 44 and soon after became a Yeoman of the Guard. He and Elspet moved to Falmouth where he was employed as a mounted coastguard. But Elspet died of pneumonia in 1864 and was buried in Falmouth. Six month later, Spence married again, to Mary, and had 9 more children. David Spence died of a heart attack on 17 April 1877, buried in an unmarked grave in Lambeth Cemetery. A headstone was finally erected in March 2017 after the Victoria Cross Trust located his grave. His medals are displayed in the regimental museum in Derby.
