Victoria Cross heroes Arthur and Hugh will never be forgotten
Renfrewshire falls silent tomorrow to pay tribute to the millions who died in The Great War.
Soldiers from across the region’s towns and villages made the ultimate sacrifice to guarantee freedom for loved ones at home.
Paisley and Linwood were home to two heroes recognised for extraordinary bravery during the conflict. Second Lieutenant Arthur Henderson and Private Hugh McIver were awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry. These are their stories.
“It is down to us to carry forward the memory or Arthur and all who gave their lives.
“Their memories can never be diminished.”
Arthur had been a stockbroker before being shipped off to France to fight in The Great War.
He was born in May 1893 to parents Elizabeth and George – a building contractor and a magistrate.
His mother died when he was just four – leaving his father to care for him and his six siblings.
Arthur grew up in Meikleriggs and attended school at the John Neilson Institute.
He was an ace cricketer and vicecaptain of Ferguslie Cricket Club.
The banker enlisted in the 1/6th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders just weeks after war broke out.
The Paisley squaddie fought in the frontline at the Battle of the Somme – one of the bloodiest campaigns of the conflict, where more than a million
men were wounded or killed.
Arthur was awarded the Military Cross for leading his men with courage during a raid in August 1916.
He rose to the rank of Second Lieutenant and was Acting Captain when he led the attack which took his life only nine months later.
He was languishing in the mire of the churned fields when he was spurred to take action in Fontaineles-Croisilles in France.
Hemmed in by advancing German troops, he knew there was only one way back to Paisley – charge.
Arthur’s company ran through machine gun hails and bombing to reach their target.
Badly wounded, he rallied his forces and held on to the position until reinforcements arrived – but died just hours later.
It was two weeks before his 24th birthday.
Arthur was buried in Cojeul British Cemetery in St Martin-sur-Cojeul. He never married. King George V presented George Henderson with his hero son’s Victoria Cross outside Buckingham Palace only months before the guns fell silent.
The officer was hailed for his “cheerful courage and coolness in the most trying conditions”.
His VC medal ribbons and portrait hung in the clubhouse before being moved to Stirling Castle in the late 1980s.
Renfrewshire Council erected a commemorative stone to honour the bravery of VC recipients from World War I last year.
None of Arthur’s living relatives could be traced.
Historian Jim Smith says too many men died before they could start families of their own and it is down to us to keep their memory alive.
He said: “I visited the cemeteries of France and Belgium and managed to find Arthur’s grave.
“When I was just a boy I was in the army cadets and learned all about his bravery.
“It came flooding back to me as I stood and paid my respects.
“We must make sure Arthur Henderson and the countless others who fought for freedom are remembered always.”