Private John Weston was born in Mitcham, Surrey and enlisted in the Rifle Brigade at Westminster in November 1852, aged 19 years. Alas, his verified services in the Crimea were not without cost, as noted by the officiating Surgeon on his Discharge Papers in October 1856: 'Underwent amputation of the forefinger of the right hand in consequence of a wound from a Russian rifle ball when on duty in the trenches before Sebastopol. The pain he now suffers in the stump prevents him using his rifle. He is also subject to shortness of breath, the consequence of diseased lungs'.