Joseph Malone was born in Eccles, Lancashire, on 11 January 1833. He became a farrier and worked with horses and remained in the trade prior to enlisting with the 13th Light Dragoons in Manchester on 28 March 1851. in 1854, he travelled with his regiment to the Crimea after hostilities broke out between the Allied forces and the Russians.
He was 21 years old and a sergeant in the 13th Light Dragoons (later the 13th Hussars) during the Crimean War when the following deed took place on 25 October 1854 for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross:
"For having stopped under a very heavy fire to take charge of Captain Webb, 17th Lancers, until others arrived to assist him in removing that Officer, who was (as it afterwards proved) mortally wounded. Serjeant Malone performed this act of bravery while returning on foot from the charge at the Battle of Balaklava [the Charge of the Light Brigade], in which his horse had been shot."
He received his Victoria Cross from Queen Victoria at Windsor on 28 November 1857. He later transferred to the 6th Dragoons and in 1858 was commissioned as a Riding Master.
He married in 1860 and he and his wife had seven children. In 1861, he was granted the honorary rank of Captain. He died in Pinetown, Natal, South Africa on 28 June 1883, aged 50, where he was buried.
His Victoria Cross was acquired by Lord Ashcroft in 2017 and is displayed at the Imperial War Museum in London as part of the Lord Ashcroft VC collection.