John Kilvert fought at the Battle of Balaclava and the Charge of the Light Brigade. His sword & medals are held by Sandwell Museums Service

John Kilvert was a 19th Century British soldier whose sword and medals are held by the Sandwell Museums Service. Kilvert fought in The Crimean War between Britain and Russia in the 1850’s. Kilvert fought at The Battle of Balaclava and an action during that battle The Charge of the Light Brigade immortalised in a poem by then Poet Laureate Alfred Lord Tennyson as an heroic military failure with Lord Cardigan’s cavalry charging the Russian cannons which inflicted terrible casualties and injuries amongst the brave cavalrymen. Truly “Lions Led by Donkeys” ! Nurses Mary Seacole and Florence Nightingale came to prominence during The Crimean War as they pioneered the nursing of wounded soldiers from the war. The British and their Empire had overstretched themselves and received a mauling from the “Russian Bear”