Angus Buchanan (VC)

He braved machine-gun fire twice to rescue both wounded men.

Angus Buchanan was born at Coleford, Gloucestershire, on August 11, 1894. Educated locally and at Monmouth School, he won a scholarship to Jesus College, Oxford. In November 1914 he was commissioned into the 4th Battalion, South Wales Borderers. He served at Gallipoli in 1915, was wounded and returned to the peninsula before its evacuation. He received the Military Cross.

On April 5, 1916, at the Falauiyah Lines in Mesopotamia, Buchanan saw a wounded officer lying about 150 yards from cover. Two men attempted a rescue, but one was hit. Buchanan went out under heavy machine-gun fire and helped the other man carry the officer to safety. He then returned for the wounded rescuer. These two journeys brought him the Victoria Cross.

A sniper’s bullet in February 1917 left him blind. He relinquished his commission that September and retained the rank of captain. King George V presented his VC and MC at Bristol on November 8, 1917. Buchanan learned Braille, returned to Oxford to study law and became a solicitor in Coleford. He died at Gloucester on March 1, 1944, and was buried at Coleford.

**Victoria Cross citation**

“For most conspicuous bravery. During an attack an officer was lying out in the open severely wounded about 150 yards from cover. Two men went to his assistance and one of them was hit at once. Captain Buchanan, on seeing this, immediately went out and, with the help of the other man, carried the wounded officer to cover under heavy machine gun fire. He then returned and brought in the wounded man, again under heavy fire.”