David Stuart McGregor
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David Stuart McGregor (16 October 1895 – 22 October 1918) was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
He was 23 years old, and a lieutenant in The Royal Scots (The Lothian Regiment), British Army, attached to 29th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 22 October 1918 near Hoogemolen, Belgium, Lieutenant McGregor concealed his guns on a limber under the bank of a sunken road, but immediately the troops advanced they were subjected to such intense enfilade machine-gun fire that he realised it was impossible to get the guns carried forward without great delay. Having ordered the teams to take a safer route, he lay flat on the limber, the driver then galloped forward under the heaviest machine-gun fire to cover beyond, the guns were put into action and the advance resumed. Lieutenant McGregor continued directing the fire until he was killed.
His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Royal Scots Museum (Edinburgh Castle, Scotland).
[edit] References
- Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
- The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
- Scotland's Forgotten Valour (Graham Ross, 1995)
- VCs of the First World War - The Final Days 1918 (Gerald Gliddon, 2000)
