James McPhie VC (18 December 1894 – 14 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 previousl ...

, 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

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forces.

Details

McPhie was 23 years old, and a

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...

in the 416th (Edinburgh) Field Company,

Corps of Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

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 Gurkha ...

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 following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. On 14 October 1918 at the

Canal de la Sensée Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

near

Aubencheul-au-Bac Aubencheul-au-Bac is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Population Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 648 communes of the Nord department of the French Republic. The comm ...

Nord Nord, a word meaning "north" in several European languages, may refer to: Acronyms * National Organization for Rare Disorders, an American nonprofit organization * New Orleans Recreation Department, New Orleans, Louisiana, US Film and televisi ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, Corporal McPhie was with a party of

sappers A sapper, also called a pioneer or combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing fie ...

maintaining a cork float bridge, which when our infantry started to cross it just before dawn began to break away and sink. Corporal McPhie jumped into the water and tried to hold the cork and timbers together but this proved impossible so he swam back and collected the materials for repair. Although it was daylight and the bridge was under close fire he then led the way to the bridge, axe in hand. He was severely wounded and died almost at once. However, the bridge was kept open and 1/2nd Battalion London Regiment were able to maintain their bridgehead on the opposite bank until relieved. His grave is at Naves, about 6 km east of Cambrai. He was commemorated on the war memorial doorway in St George's Church,

Charlotte Square 300px, Robert Adam's palace-fronted north side Charlotte Square is a garden square in Edinburgh, Scotland, part of the New Town, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The square is located at the west end of George Street and was in ...

, Edinburgh, and, when the church was closed and the memorial demolished, on a plaque in St Andrew's & St George's West Church. He is also commemorated by a bench in West Princes Street Gardens under the Royal Scots Grey statue, there is also a memorial stone at the corner of Brown St. Edinburgh].St Andrew's & St George's West Church magazine, October 2018.
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The medal

His Victoria Cross is displayed 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 ...

, London, England.

Notes

References

* Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999) * The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997) *

The Sapper VCs The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

(Gerald Napier, 1998) *

Scotland's Forgotten Valour ''Scotland's Forgotten Valour'' is a 1995 book by Graham Ross, published by MacLean Press under . (The typography of the title on the book uses capitalisation Capitalization (American English) or capitalisation (British English) is writing a ...

(Graham Ross, 1995) *

VCs of the First World War - The Final Days 1918 ''VCs of the First World War'' is a series of books that list the Victoria Cross recipients of the First World War. The series consists of 13 books written by four different authors, first published under the label Sutton Publishing Limited, part ...

(Gerald Gliddon, 2000) * Maj C.H. Dudley Ward, ''The Fifty Sixth Division, 1st London Territorial Division, 1914–1918'', London: John Murray, 1921/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2001, . * Brig-Gen Sir James E. Edmonds & Lt-Col R. Maxwell-Hyslop, ''History of the Great War: Military Operations, France and Belgium 1918'', Vol V, ''26th September–11th November, The Advance to Victory'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1947/Imperial War Museum and Battery Press, 1993, * Maj W.E. Grey, ''2nd City of London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) in the Great War 1914–19'', London: Regimental Headquarters, 1929//Uckfield, Naval & Military Press, 2002, . Mcphie

External links

Royal Engineers Museum
Sappers VCs * 1894 births 1918 deaths Military personnel from Edinburgh Royal Engineers soldiers British Army personnel of World War I British World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross British military personnel killed in World War I British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross {{UK-army-bio-stub