David Stuart McGregor VC (16 October 1895 – 22 October 1918) was a Scottish 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

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and Commonwealth forces. A soldier with

The Royal Scots The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), once known as the Royal Regiment of Foot, was the oldest and most senior infantry regiment of the line of the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I of Scotland. The regimen ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he was posthumously awarded the VC for his actions on 22 October 1918, during the Hundred Days Offensive.

Early life

David Stuart McGregor was born on 16 October 1895 in

Corstorphine Corstorphine (Scottish Gaelic: ''Crois Thoirfinn'') ( ) is an area of the Scottish capital city of Edinburgh. Formerly a separate village and parish to the west of Edinburgh, it is now a suburb of the city, having been formally incorporate ...

, to the west of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

. His father, also named David, was in the clothing trade. Educated at

George Watson's College George Watson's College is a co-educational independent day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a hospital school in 1741, became a day school in 1871, and was merg ...

and then

George Heriot's School George Heriot's School is a Scottish independent primary and secondary day school on Lauriston Place in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. In the early 21st century, it has more than 1600 pupils, 155 teaching staff, and 80 non-teaching staff. ...

, in 1911 he began working at the

Commercial Bank of Scotland The Commercial Bank of Scotland Ltd. was a Scottish commercial bank. It was founded in Edinburgh in 1810, and obtained a royal charter in 1831. It grew substantially through the 19th and early 20th centuries, until 1958, when it merged with th ...

. Two years later he joined the

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry ...

, serving in the Midlothian Royal Field Artillery.

First World War

Following the outbreak of the First World War, McGregor enlisted in the British Army. He was commissioned into the

6th Battalion, Royal Scots The 6th Battalion, Royal Scots, was a unit of Britain's part-time Territorial Force. Beginning as a Volunteer unit formed from teetotallers in the city of Edinburgh in 1867, it later became affiliated to the Royal Scots. During World War I it serv ...

. He was initially sent to Egypt but by 1916 was serving on the Western Front. After receiving specialist training, he was posted to the

Machine Gun Corps The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front in the First World War. The Heavy Branch of the MGC was the first to use tanks ...

(MGC). On 22 October 1918, during the Hundred Days Offensive, McGregor, attached to the MGC's 29th Battalion, 29th Division, was commanding a section of machine guns in support of a battalion advancing near Hoogemolen, in Belgium. However, the battalion came under heavy machine gun fire from a nearby hill which stopped further movement forward. Despite being under fire, McGregor was instrumental in getting the advance restarted by bringing forward his guns and directing their fire onto the Germans until he was killed. For his actions on 22 October he was posthumously awarded the

(VC). The VC, instituted in 1856, was the highest award for valour that could be bestowed on a soldier of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

. The citation for McGregor's VC read: McGregor's body was recovered and he is buried in the Stasegem Communal Cemetery in

West Flanders ) , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of West Flanders.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van West-Vlaanderen.svg , shield_size = , image_map ...

, four kilometres to the east of Kortrijk. A memorial stone and plaque on the boundary of George Heriot's School, at the junction of Lauriston Place and Heriot Place, was unveiled on the 100th anniversary of his death, 22 October 2018.

Victoria Cross

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 Qu ...

presented McGregor's VC to his parents on 15 February 1919, in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. In 1976, his VC was donated to the Royal Scots and is displayed at the Royal Scots Museum in Edinburgh Castle, Scotland.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mcgregor, David Stuart 1895 births 1918 deaths British Army personnel of World War I British World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross Royal Scots officers British military personnel killed in World War I Military personnel from Edinburgh Machine Gun Corps officers British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross People educated at George Heriot's School