Corporal John Frederick McKay Gordon Highlanders 29th May 1900 |
On May 29, 1900, during the action at Crow's Nest Hill, near Johannesburg, Corporal Mackay was conspicuous for his humanity and brave conduct, attending to the wounded, and giving them every help in his power, in spite of being far from any cover, and within a short range of the Boers. He also carried one man from the open ground to shelter, under a very heavy fire. Lieutenant Mackay, formerly a student at Trinity College, Dublin, entered the Army as a private soldier, enlisting into the 1st Gordons, serving with that distinguished corps against the Chitralese in 1895, and on the Punjab Frontier, 1897-8, including the storming of Dargai, obtaining the special Frontier medal and clasps. His commission in the K.O.S.B. was signed just fourteen months after he won the Victoria Cross (July 27, 1901) |