Career
He joined the British Army at the age of sixteen, being assigned to the 92nd Regiment of Foot (Gordon Highlanders) on 30 April 1840. He was posted to a variety of locations, including the West Indies and the Greek Isles. When the Crimean War broke out in 1854, his regiment was posted to Gibraltar as a garrison force.
Beach volunteered to be seconded to another unit which was going to Crimea, and he was placed with the 55th Regiment of Foot.
His medal citation reads "On 5 November 1854 at the Battle of Inkerman, Crimea, when on piquet duty, Private Beach attacked several Russians who were plundering Lieutenant-Colonel Carpenter, 41st Regiment, who was lying wounded on the ground. He killed two of the Russians, and protected Lieutenant-Colonel Carpenter until the arrival of some men of the 41st Regiment."
In addition to the Victoria Cross, during his time in the military he was awarded two good conduct medals.
However he was also placed 21 times in the regimental defaulters book and was twice tried by court marshal. The 1861 census of England, Wales and Scotland placed him living in Perth, Scotland.
After leaving the Army in June 1863 following 21 years of service, including seven and a half years overseas, he became a railway labourer.
Less than a year later he had died from the effects of alcohol poisoning in the Dundee Royal Infirmary. He was buried in a pauper"s grave somewhere in the Eastern Necropolis in Dundee. The exact location of the burial is unknown due to the number of mass graves in that area.
On 20 October 2006, a $1.50 stamp was issued in Kiribati commemorating Beach"s Victoria Cross action.
A drawing of it which had previously appeared in the Illustrated London News was used. His medal is held at the Sheesh Mahal fort in Lahore, Pakistan.
lieutenant forms part of a collection which was gathered by Bhupinder Singh of Patiala during the 1920s.