John Frederick MacKay

He carried a wounded soldier to safety under withering fire.

John Frederick MacKay was born in Edinburgh on 6 June 1873. He served in the 1st Battalion, Gordon Highlanders, and fought on India's North-West Frontier during the Tirah campaign of 1897–98. His regiment then went to South Africa, where he took part in the Second Boer War, including the fighting around Paardeberg and Johannesburg.

During the attack on the Boer position at Crow's Nest Hill near Doornkop in May 1900, MacKay repeatedly went into the open to help wounded men. On the occasion singled out for the Victoria Cross, he brought a wounded soldier to shelter under heavy fire. The rescue required him to remain exposed while lifting and carrying a man who could not escape unaided. His courage was recognized by the award gazetted in August 1900, and Lord Roberts presented the cross in Pretoria that October.

He continued serving through the South African campaign and received both the Queen's and King's South Africa Medals. A commission opened a wider imperial career. From 1903 he was seconded to the Southern Nigeria Regiment and took part in expeditions in the Cross River, Ibibio and Bende regions. He subsequently served with the Northern Nigeria Regiment and commanded the Ogumi patrol in 1907. His African service brought further mentions in despatches and the Africa General Service Medal.

MacKay later served with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and in adjutant appointments. During the First World War he served in France in 1915–16 and commanded the 2/6th Highland Light Infantry in Britain until the battalion was disbanded in 1918. In 1919 he was with the 1st Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in Bangalore. He reached the rank of lieutenant-colonel and eventually settled in southern France. He died at Nice on 9 January 1930 and was buried in the Caucade Cemetery.

Victoria Cross citation

On the 29th May, 1900, during the action on Crow's Nest Hill, near Johannesburg, Corporal McKay repeatedly rushed forward, under a withering fire at short ranges, to attend to wounded comrades, dressing their wounds whilst he himself was without shelter, and in one instance carrying a wounded man from the open, under a heavy fire, to the shelter of a boulder.