Quantcast
Channel: For Argyll » argyll and sutherland highlanders museum
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 2

Three Argyll WW1 Victoria Cross holders to be honoured in UK centenary commemorations of the date of their act of valour

0
0

These VC holders were from Cowal, Islay and Helensburgh. Argyll and Bute Council was notified by the UK Government Scotland Office of a plan to commemorate with special paving stones recipients of Victoria Crosses in World War 1. The matter was discussed and adopted at the recent council meeting on 20th March,

The paving stones are to be laid on the centenary of each individual award for valour and Argyll and Bute Council will decide on the specific location of each stone.

Three Argyll-related Victoria Cross holders are to be so honoured, two of them automatically so, the third subject to some debate, campaigned for – and rightly so – by Helensburgh and endorsed now by the council.

One of the three was awarded his VC posthumously, with the other two somehow surviving the lethal exposure to which they committed themselves with such exemplary courage in the interests of doing their jobs.

vc pubic domainThe three Victoria Cross holders are:

  • Captain George Henry Tatham Paton was also awarded the Military Cross [MC]. He was from Innellan in Cowal and serving in the 4th Battalion of the Grenadier Guards when he was mortally wounded in action on 1st December 1917, his VC awarded for that day. His commemorative centenary paving stone is therefore to be laid in December 2017.
  • Lieutenant David Lowe Macintyre, was also awarded the Companion of the Bath [CB] for having been mentioned in dispatches. He was from Portnahaven in Islay, in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders but attached to 1/6th Battalion of The Highland Light Infantry. His VC was awarded for his actions on 24th and 27th August 1918 and formally awarded on 26th October, 1918. His centenary commemorative paving stone will be laid in August or October 2018.
  • Lieutenant John Reginald Noble Graham, was also awarded the OBE in 1946 and King Haakon VII’s Cross of Liberty in 1949. Born in India – hence the foolish debate on his eligibility for the planned centenary commemoration – he lived in Cardoss, south of Helensburgh, before and after World War 1. He was posted to the 9th Battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and had been seconded to 136 company of the Machine Gun Corps.  His VC was awarded for his action on 22nd April 1917. His commemorative paving stone will be laid in April 2017.

Captain George Henry Tatham Paton VC MC

George Paton, born on 3rd October 1895 in Innellan, south of Dunoon. The son of the Deputy Chairman and MD of Messrs Bryant and May Ltd, the famous matchmakers, he was educated at Rottingdean School and Clifton College Bristol.

He was just shy of 22 years and 2 months old when he died in action at Gonnelieu in France on 1st December 1917.

The action for which he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross came on that date, with the citation reading:

‘For most conspicuous bravery and self-sacrifice. When a unit on his left was driven back, thus leaving, his flank in the air and his company practically surrounded, he fearlessly exposed himself to re-adjust the line, walking up and down within fifty yards of the enemy under a withering fire.

‘He personally removed several wounded men, and was the last to leave the village.

‘Later, he again re-adjusted the line, exposing himself regardless of all danger the whole time, and when the enemy four times counter-attacked he sprang each time upon the parapet, deliberately risking his life, and being eventually mortally wounded, in order to stimulate his command.

‘After the enemy had broken through on his left, he again mounted the parapet, and with a few men, who were inspired by his great example, forced them once more to withdraw, thereby undoubtedly saving the left flank.’

His grave is in the British extension to the Communal Cemetery at Metz-en-Couture. His Victoria Cross is on display at The Grenadier Guards Regimental Headquarters at Wellington Barracks in London – the first VC won by the regiment since the Crimea.

He is commemorated on the War Memorial at Innellan.

Lieutenant David Lowe Macintyre VC CB

david lowe macintyre vc cbDavid Macintyre was born on 18th June 1895 at Portnahaven in the Isle of Islay, his father was a minister in the United Free Church. He then lived with his family in Edinburgh and  was educated at George Watson’s College and the University of Edinburgh. At Watson’s he is remembered as one of two VC’s earned by its alumni.

When war broke out, Macintyre served in Egypt, Jerusalem and France with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. On 24th August, at the age of 23, while attached to the Highland Light Infantry, he was involved in what is described as ‘ferocious fighting to break the mighty Hindenburg Line at Henin near Arras in France.

The full citation for his Victoria Cross, which he heard about while recovering in London from a bullet in the thigh, read:

‘For most conspicuous bravery in attack when, acting as Adjutant of his battalion, he was constantly in evidence in the firing line, and by his coolness under most heavy shell and machine-gun fire inspired the confidence of all ranks.

‘Three days later he was in command of the firing line during an attack, and showed throughout most courageous and skilful leading in face of heavy machine-gun fire. When barbed wire was encountered, he personally reconnoitred it before leading his men forward. On one occasion, when extra strong entanglements were reached, he organised and took forward a party of men. and under heavy machine-gun fire supervised the making of gaps.

‘Later, when the greater part of our line was definitely held up, Lt. Maclntyre rallied a small party, pushed forward through the enemy barrage in pursuit of an enemy machine-gun detachment, and ran them to earth in a “pill-box” a short distance ahead, killing three and capturing an officer, ten other ranks and five machine guns. In this redoubt he and his party raided three “pill-boxes” and disposed of the occupants, thus enabling the battalion to capture the redoubt.

‘When the battalion was ordered to take up a defensive position, Lt. Maclntyre, after he had been relieved of command of the firing line, reconnoitred the right flank which was exposed. When doing this an enemy machine gun opened fire close to him. Without any hesitation he rushed it singlehanded, put the team to flight and brought in the gun. On returning to the redoubt he continued to show splendid spirit while supervising consolidation.

‘The success of the advance was largely due to Lt. Maclntyre’s fine leadership and initiative, and his gallantry and leading was an inspiring example to all.’

After World War 2, David Lowe Macintyre went on to become a high ranking civil servant in the Ministry of Works. He was made Companion of the Order of the Bath [CB] in 1949 and then became Under-Secretary for Scotland, the position from which he retired in 1956.

He died eleven years later in Edinburgh on 31st July 1967. His grave is at Warriston Crematorium in Edinburgh. His Victoria Cross is at the National War Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

Interestingly, in 1939, at the outbreak of World War 2, the Scottish Naval and Military Museum in Edinburgh Castlw was closed and its artefacts put in storage. They might never have seen the light of day again had not Macintyre insisted that it reopen under the supervision if the Ministry of Works.

Lieutenant John Reginald Noble Graham VC OBE

Reginald Graham was born in Calcutta in India, on 17th September 1892. The eldest son of Sir Frederick Graham, the 2nd Baronet, he was educated at Eton and Trinity College Cambridge, serving in WW1 first with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Then in 1916, he was seconded to 136 Company, Machine Gun Corps, with which he was sent to Mesopotamia.

During the Samarrah Offensive Lieutenant Graham was in command of a machine-gun section which was co-operating with the Frontier Force, the 56th Punjabi Rifles, near Istabulat on the evening of 22nd April 1917.

The citation for his Victoria Cross, won when he was 24 years old, in the engagement that evening, says:

‘Lt. Graham accompanied his guns across open ground, under very heavy rifle and machine gun fire, and when his men became casualties, he assisted in carrying the ammunition.

‘Although twice wounded he continued during the advance to control his guns and was able, with one gun, to open an accurate fire on the enemy, who were massing for a counter-attack. This gun was put out of action by the enemy’s rifle fire, and he was again wounded. The advancing enemy forced him to retire, but before doing so he further disabled his gun, rendering it useless.

‘He then brought a Lewis gun into action with excellent effect till all the ammunition was expended. He was again severely wounded, and forced through loss of blood to retire.

‘His valour and skilful handling of his guns held up a strong counter-attack which threatened to roll up the left flank of the Brigade, and thus averted what might have been a very critical situation.’

When he came back to Cardross in 1918, Helensburgh Heritage records:

‘The reception was entirely spontaneous, as it was only in the afternoon that it became known in the village that the gallant hero was on the way home.

‘On alighting from the train Major Graham was promptly ‘chaired’, and, preceded by a piper, carried shoulder high along the station platform to his waiting car, amid a scene of great enthusiasm.

‘Major Graham, in an eloquent little speech, expressed his sincerest thanks to the Cardross people for this cordial reception, and paid a high tribute to the Dumbartonshire men of 2/9th Argylls who served with him in Mesopotamia.’

After the war Graham returned to India where, from 1927-28, he was Manager of his family firm, founded by his great-great-grandfather in Glasgow – Karachi and Bombay Graham’s Trading Companies. He was also Chairman of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce. While back in India he became Squadron Leader in the Calcutta Light Horse; and then Commander in the Bombay Light Patrol.

Returning to Britain again he rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Argylls, attached to Staff Movement Control Scottish Command. He became the third Baronet on his father’s death on 25th November 1936; and went on to fight again in the Second World War.

At an investiture in 1946 he was given the OBE and three years later awarded the King Haakon VII Liberty Cross. This was a medal awarded to Norwegian or foreign military or civilian personnel for outstanding achievement during war.

Sir Reginald Graham died in Edinburgh on 6th December 1980. He was cremated at the city’s Morton Hall Crematorium, and his ashes are buried in front of a memorial cross in the Crematorium grounds, without a memorial tablet.

Lieutenant Graham was one of six members of the Argylls to win the Victoria Cross in World War 1. His medals are held by the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Museum in Stirling Castle.

And a Cardross mystery – Lieutenant Colonel William Herbert Anderson VC

Adam Brown, Curator of the Scottish Military Research Group, has noted in a comment posted on the Scottish War Memorials Project website, that the name of Lieutenant William Herbert Anderson VC is recorded on the Cardross War Memorial.

Born in Strathairly in Largo in Fife on 29th December 1881, he served in the 12th Battalion of the Highland Light Infantry. He was 36 years old when he died in the action at Bois Favieres near Maricourt on the Somme in France on 25th March 1918, for which he was posthumously awarded his Victoria Cross.

The mystery is why Lieutenant Colonel Anderson appears on the Cardross War Memorial. There must have been a reaon for this but it has got lost i tie There is no mention of Cardross to be found in any available record. Since he was 36 years old and married to a Gertrude Campbell, perhaps he had come to Cardross and went from there to the battlefields of the first world war? This possibility, however, would appear to be denied by the fact that in his death records, his wife is noted as living at 23, Abingdon Court, Kensington in London. The mystery remains.

The citation for his Victoria Cross, dated 30th April 1918, just over a month after his death, reads:

‘For most conspicuous bravery, determination, and gallant leading of his command.

‘The enemy attacked on the right of the battalion frontage and succeeded in penetrating the wood held by our men. Owing to successive lines of the enemy following on closely there was the greatest danger that the flank of the whole position would be turned.

‘Grasping the seriousness of the situation, Colonel Anderson made his way across the open in full view of the enemy now holding the wood on the right, and after much effort succeeded in gathering the remainder of the two right companies. He personally led the counter-attack and drove the enemy from the wood, capturing twelve machine guns and seventy prisoners, and restoring the original line.

‘His conduct in leading the charge was quite fearless and his most splendid example was the means of rallying and inspiring the men during the most critical hour.

‘Later on the same day, in another position, the enemy had penetrated to within three hundred yards of the village and were holding a timber yard in force. Colonel Anderson reorganised his men after they had been driven in and brought them forward to a position of readiness for a counterattack. He led the attack in person and throughout showed the utmost disregard for his own safety.

‘The counter-attack drove the enemy from his position, but resulted in this very gallant officer losing his life. He died fighting within the enemy’s lines, setting a magnificent example to all who were privileged to serve under him.’

Lieutenant Colonel Anderson’s grave is II. G. 36 at the Peronne Road Cemetery at Maricourt in France. His VC is on display at the Lord Ashcroft Gallery in the Imperial War Museum.

We imagine that the commemorative centenary paving stone for Lieutenant Colonel Anderson will be laid in April 2018, in Fife – since he was born there.


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 2

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images