Angus Buchanan, (11 August 1894 – 1 March 1944) was an English recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to

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and Commonwealth forces.

Early life

Buchanan was the son of a doctor from

Coleford, Gloucestershire Coleford is a market town in the west of the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, east of the Welsh border and close to the Wye Valley. It is the administrative centre of the Forest of Dean district. The combined population of the town's t ...

. He was educated at Monmouth School, where he was head boy. In 1913 he went to

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship S ...

to study classics. One of his tutors described him as "thoroughly Scotch and rather reserved, but a hard worker & likely to be a good influence in the Coll ge. He rowed for the college in 1914, played rugby and was Secretary of the Athletics Club. He then joined the army, where he served at

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles s ...

and in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1916, and was mentioned four times in despatches.

Award of the Victoria Cross

Buchanan was 21 years old, and a temporary

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the 4th Battalion,

South Wales Borderers The South Wales Borderers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for 280 years. It came into existence in England in 1689, as Sir Edward Dering's Regiment of Foot, and afterwards had a variety of names and headquarters. In ...

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

when the action for which he received his

took place, in the attempts to relive the British forces besieged at Kut. On 5 April 1916 at the Falauyah Lines he rescued two wounded men while under heavy enemy fire. The award was announced in a supplement to the ''

London Gazette London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

'' of 26 September 1916: On 8 November 1917 he was invested with the Victoria Cross and the Military Cross at a ceremony on Durdham Downs, Bristol, by King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Quee ...

. The ceremony was recorded by Pathé News (see External links). Buchanan had previously been awarded the Russian decoration of the Order of St. Vladimir 4th Class (with Swords) in July 1916.

Later life

On 13 February 1917 Buchanan was shot in the head by a sniper and permanently blinded. He attributed his survival to the care of his

batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939. ...

, Private Mark Perry. He rejoined Jesus College after the war and read law, rowing for the college in 1919 despite his blindness. After graduating in 1921, he worked in a solicitor's office in Oxford before returning to Coleford to work until his death in 1944. In 1921 he attended Monmouth School for the ceremony marking the dedication of the school's war memorial, which he unveiled. Funds were raised in Coleford to mark his bravery and, at Buchanan's request, were used to purchase a

playing field Play is a range of Motivation#Incentive theories: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, intrinsically motivated activities done for recreational pleasure and enjoyment. Play is commonly associated with children and juvenile-level activities, but m ...

for the use of the local children. Buchanan died on 1 March 1944 and was buried in Coleford Cemetery, next to the recreation field named in his honour. In addition to the playing field at Coleford, Buchanan is also remembered at Monmouth School, where the Upper Sixth Form boarding house, Buchanan House, commemorates him. His Victoria Cross was displayed at the

Regimental Museum of The Royal Welsh The Regimental Museum of The Royal Welsh, formerly the South Wales Borderers Museum is located at Brecon in Wales. The museum's collection is made up of artefacts collected from a variety of sources from around the world and which display the reg ...

Brecon Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the count ...

but, following its purchase by

Michael Ashcroft Michael Anthony Ashcroft, Baron Ashcroft, (born 4 March 1946) is a British-Belizean businessman, pollster and politician. He is a former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. Ashcroft founded Michael A. Ashcroft Associates in 1972 and i ...

in 2013, is now in the Lord Ashcroft VC Collection at The

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

References

External links

Pathe News coverage of Buchanan's investiture ceremony
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buchanan, Angus 1894 births 1944 deaths People from Coleford, Gloucestershire British Army personnel of World War I South Wales Borderers officers Recipients of the Military Cross British World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford English solicitors English blind people Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th class People educated at Monmouth School for Boys British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross Blind lawyers Burials in Gloucestershire Military personnel from Gloucestershire

Early life

Award of the Victoria Cross

Later life

See also

References

External links