Captain George Stuart Henderson V.C.,D.S.O.and Bar, M.C.

Captain George Stuart Henderson V.C. D.S.O. and Bar, M.C. and 5 times Mentioned in Dispatches. 2nd Battalion, Manchester Regiment. He was Scotland’s most decorated soldier and was killed in action on 24th July 1920 aged 26. He had been born in Gordon and was the son of Robert and Mary Henderson of Mount Hooley, Jedburgh and is commemorated on the Basra Memorial, Iraq. He had been commissioned from Sandhurst in January 1914 and was posted to the 1st Manchesters in India.  As part of the Indian Corps the Battalion went to France in September 1914. He won the Military Cross during the Second Battle of Ypres before the Battalion moved to Mesopotamia in December 1915 and he was awarded his Distinguished Service Order for conspicuous gallantry in 1916 and was awarded a bar to his D.S.O. in 1917. He then served in Palestine before returning to Mesopotamia at the end of the War. His Victoria Cross citation reads as follows–” For conspicuous bravery and self sacrifice. On 24th July 1920 from Hillah in Mesopotamia the Company under his command was ordered to retire After about 500 yards a large party of Arabs suddenly opened fire from all sides causing the Company to waver. Regardless of all danger Henderson at once reorganised the Company led them gallantly and drove off the enemy. On two further occasions led his men in bayonet charges against the enemy and forced them to retire. At one stage when the situation was extremely critical and the troops and transport were getting out of hand ,Capt. Henderson by sheer pluck and coolness of his command prevented the Company from being cut up and saved the situation. During the second charge he fell wounded but refused to relinquish command and just as the Company reached the trench they were attacking he was again wounded. Realising he could do no more he asked his N.C.O.s to hold him up on the embankment saying I’m done don’t let them beat you. He died fighting.” His name is also on the Jedburgh War Memorial.  In 2009 the family decided to loan his Victoria Cross to The Manchester Regiment Museum at Ashton-under-Lyme. It has also been proposed to lay a paving stone in his memory in Gordon. Two of his cousins, Kenneth and Noel also fell – see below.

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