- George Findlater
Infobox Person
name = George Findlater
caption = Findlater wearing the Victoria Cross.
birth_date = 16 February 1872
birth_place = Mill of Turriff, Aberdeenshire
death_date = 4 March 1942
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footnotes =George Findlater VC (16 February 1872, Mill of Turriff, Aberdeenshire – 4 March 1942, Turriff, Aberdeenshire) was a Scottish recipient of the
Victoria Cross , the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.Details
He was 25 years old, and a
Piper in the 1st Battalion,The Gordon Highlanders ,British Army during theTirah Campaign which took place in theNorth-West Frontier Province ofBritish India .On 20 October 1897 during the attack on the
Dargai Heights,Tirah , Piper Findlater, after being shot through both feet and unable to stand, propped himself against a boulder and went on playing the regimental march under heavy fire, to encourage the advance.Whilst it is officially recorded that he played the regimental march - "Cock o'the North" - during the advance, this is often disputed. Findlater himself later commented that he was not sure what to play, and chose a strathspey, "
Haughs of Cromdale ", as more fitting to the pace of the advance - a charge, not a march.In the Encyclopaedia Britannica and the official campaign battle history, his deed find more mention than the
Battle of Saragarhi , which is remembered only in the Indian army and does not even merit a mention in the whole campaign.Further information
He later achieved the rank of
Pipe-Major .The medal
His Victoria Cross is displayed at the
Gordon Highlanders Museum "(Aberdeen, Scotland)".References
*
Piper George Findlater, V.C., The Hero of Dargai (Craig Cross, 2007)
*Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
*The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
*Scotland's Forgotten Valour (Graham Ross, 1995)ee also
The General Danced at Dawn (George Macdonald Fraser, 1970)
External links
* [http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/stewart/grampian.htm Location of grave and VC medal] "(Grampian)"
* [http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0955310504 Amazon.co.uk: Piper Findlater, V.C.: The Hero of Dargai: Craig Cross: Books ] at www.amazon.co.uk
* [http://www.cabarfeidh.com/dargai.htm Dargai]
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