At last a fitting memorial for hero of the Light Brigade

Headstone for fearless dragoon

- LOUIE SMITH

INTO the valley of death rode the 600... and now one of the heroes of the Charge of the Light Brigade has finally been commemorated with a proper headstone.

Private John Henry Harding was one of 673 men who joined the catastrophic cavalry charge against fierce Russian forces during the Battle of Balaklava in the Crimean War.

They came under artillery fire from three sides, and around 260 were killed or wounded and 475 horses lost.

But for those who survived, the hardship was far from over, with many going on to live in poverty among them Pte Harding.

He grew up in Glastonbury, Somerset, and was just 19 when he enlisted in 1850.

CHARGE