For conspicuous bravery at Rouges Bancs on 19 December 1914, in rescuing a severely wounded man from in front of the German trenches under very heavy fire, and after a stretcher-bearer party had been compelled to abandon the attempt. Private Mackenzie was subsequently killed on that day while in the performance of a similar act of gallant conduct.
A comrade of Mackenzie wrote of the incident as follows:
He was returning to the trenches along with me and another stretcher-bearer when it occurred. We had only two or three cases that morning, so the last one was taken by us three. After we took the wounded soldier to hospital we returned to see if there were any more. There was a very dangerous place to pass. I went first, followed by another, then James came behind, which caused his death. He was shot in the heart by a sniper, and only lived five minutes.
Two days later, also at Rouges Bancs, two more VCs were won by Pte. A. Acton and Pte. J. Smith both of the Border Regiment.
Mackenzie’s body was subsequently lost and his name is listed on the Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing (Panel One).
James Mackenzie was the son of Alexander Mackenzie, a mason by trade, and Marion Mackenzie. He was born on 2 April 1884 (not 1889 as listed in the reference books), at his grandmother’s house at West Glen, New Abbey, Kirkcudbrightshire where his mother had gone for the birth of her child. The Mackenzie family moved from West Glen around twelve years later to Terregles Street, Maxwelltown.
Mackenzie was educated at Laurieknowe Public School (formerly Maxwelltown School). The school was originally built in 1872. By coincidence another boy, named James Tait, who was to win the VC, also attended the school. He won the medal on 18 August 1918, as a lieutenant in the Canadian 78th Infantry Battalion
On leaving school Mackenzie had several jobs; firstly he worked on farms at Locharbank Bankend and for his grandparents at Barncleuch Shawhead before being employed by McGowans Joiners of Terregles Street in Maxwelltown. He left them to enlist in the army in Dumfries on 16 February 1912. The Scots Guards were having a recruiting drive when he applied and he understated his age to ensure being accepted. He said he was twenty-three but in reality he was twenty-seven. He gave his occupation as groom. His army number was 8185 and for two years he was based at the Guards Depot, Caterham, in Surrey. On 5 October 1914 the Scots Guards received orders to go to France where they arrived in mid-October.
Mackenzie’s name is commemorated not only in Belgium but also on the family gravestone at Troqueer parish church. In addition his name appears on the Maxwelltown Memorial in New Abbey Road, Dumfries, and he is commemorated on a plaque on the east porch of Troqueer parish church where his age is given as twenty-seven when he was in fact over thirty years old. Mackenzie’s former school proudly displays a photograph of him in full uniform, and includes his name on the School Roll of Honour.
Mackenzie’s VC and medals were presented to the Scots Guards by his mother. These included the 1914 Star, War Medal, Victory Medal and the Victoria Cross itself. It was the first VC to be won by a member of the Scots Guards since the Crimean War.
Mackenzie’s family home was occupied until the late 1950s but later became derelict.
A. ACTON AND J. SMITH
Rouges Bancs, France, 21 December
Pte. A. Acton
Pte. J. Smith
The First Battle of Ypres officially ended in stalemate during the third week of November 1914. Both sides were exhausted. This was followed by a period of very bad weather and the establishing of a trench system along the whole of the front which marked the beginning of static warfare. Fighting, however, did flare up in the period from 18 to 22 December in and around Givenchy.
The unsigned War Diary of the 2nd Border Regiment states that 10694 Pte. A. Acton and 6423 Pte. J. Smith gained their VCs on 19 December at Rouges Bancs, 31⁄ 2 miles from Neuve Chapelle, when saving the lives of the wounded. All other accounts, however, give the date as 21 December, two days later. The two Privates had allegedly rescued two wounded men who had been lying out in No Man’s Land for more than forty-eight hours.
The 2nd Borders War Diary (WO 95/1655, NA) is quite detailed about this action. Maj. Warren, who was battalion commander, received orders from 20th Brigade on the 18th for B and D Companies to attack at 18.30 hours after two companies of the Scots Guards had attacked. Warren and Capt. H.A. Askew also of the 2nd Borders arrived at the trenches at 15.00 hours when Warren decided to change the orders and to employ A and C Companies instead of B and D. It is not clear why. The left of the position was to be the road running south-east of La Cordonnière Farm and the right was the position of the Scots Guards, whose own left was the Sailly–Fromelles road. This meant that the whole of C Company had to be moved to the right with A Company also adjusting its position. B and D Companies were to get behind each man of A and C Companies and assist them out of their trenches. The companies were not in position until after dark and as a result nobody really knew the correct front of the attack.
The 300 men advanced at 18.15 hours and crossed the 150 yards to the enemy positions being fired on all the time, which resulted in many casualties. The attacking force was also hit by shells from British artillery which caused it to retreat to a safer position about 50 yards back. The position became completely untenable and the Borders then went back 100 yards to their original start positions. Maj. Warren followed up with a smaller party but with no better results. He was hindered by a lack of wire cutters and sent back for some. When he returned for a second attack he went to see the 7th Division commander, Maj. Gen. Capper, who was at La Cordonnière Farm. He was away from his position for an hour and a half and when he got back he found that Capt. Jenkins had brought the companies back to the trenches. No further attacks had been ordered and operations ceased. The collecting of the dead and wounded was therefore carried out. During the attacks Capt. H.A. Askew had been killed on top of the enemy trenches, and other rank casualties from the attacks of 18/19 December totalled 123. Two men received the DCM for bringing in Capt. C. Lamb of the 2nd Borders. The captain had been created a Companion of the DSO by the King on 1 December for gallantry in action at Kruiseik in October. Tragically he died of his wounds eleven days later.
Pte. Acton and Pte. Smith both volunteered to save two wounded men in broad daylight. The men had both suffered severe thigh injuries and they carried them on their backs to the British trenches. This involved going through a hail of machine-gun bullets, and the whole operation took an hour to complete. Sadly, the two wounded men subsequently died. The awards of the Victoria Cross were compiled on the 21 December according to the War Diary. On Christmas Day an armistice was agreed with the enemy and this was to last until 16.00 hours. The dead were buried close to the trenches. The next day there was no firing either and men walked along the tops of the communication trenches which were in a very poor state.
The fighting in the northern section of the Western Front subsequently died down in 1914. Acton and Smith were to be the last men to win the VC in that year. Acton’s VC was gazetted on 18 February 1915. He was killed three months later during the Battle of Festubert on 16 May. His name is commemorated on panel 19–20 of the Le Touret Memorial in France. James Alexander Smith of the 3rd Borders, attached to the 2nd Battalion, received the same citation as Acton. His medal was also gazetted on 18 February 1915. He received his VC from the King at Buckingham Palace on 22 April 1915.
Abraham Acton was the son of Mr and Mrs Robert Acton. He was born at 4 Regent Square, Senhouse Street, Whitehaven, Cumberland, on 17 December 1892 and went to school at Crosthwaite Memorial School. He later joined the 5th Battalion (TF) of the Border Regiment before enlisting in the 2nd Borders (10684) in January 1914. He served in the First World War from 25 November until his death nearly six months later.
A letter from Acton to the proprietors on the merits of Zam-Buk was published in the Bury Free Press on 10 April 1915. It read: ‘You can’t place too much faith in Zam-Buk. It had been very useful to me on many occasions. I have used Zam
-Buk for my feet especially to keep frost-bite out, and to cure sprains; also for quickly and cleanly healing cuts from barbed wire and other things. Zam-Buck is indeed a grand thing to carry in my haversack.’
This letter was published five weeks before his death. It was to provide a perfect example of how the winning of a VC could be exploited commercially. After his death Acton’s VC and medals were donated by his family to the town of Whitehaven. They are now in the Whitehaven Museum. His name is listed on the war memorial at St James’s church, in the Crosthwaite Memorial School in Whitehaven and also in Douglas, Isle of Man in St Matthew’s church and on the Douglas war memorial. Along with Robert Quigg, George Richardson and Robert Hanna, all holders of the award of the VC, he was a member of the Orange Order of Northern Ireland.
James Alexander Smith was born in Workington on 5 January 1881. He enlisted under Glenn, his mother’s maiden name, in about 1901/2 and it is thought he served with the 2nd Battalion in Burma between 1902 and 1905 and in South Africa between 1905 and 1907. He probably took his discharge after seven years with the colours and in 1914 was a reservist.
He was married twice, his first wife dying in 1928 and his second in 1966. He had no children. Between the wars he was a labourer and served in the Home Guard in the Second World War.
He was given a place of honour in the 1953 coronation. In 1968 he was invited to attend a biennial dinner in London along with 200 other medal holders from all over the world. Sadly, he died a few weeks before at No. 73 Thorntree Avenue, Brambles Farm, Middlesbrough, on 21 May 1968. He was cremated at Acklam Crematorium and his ashes were scattered in the May section of the Garden of Remembrance. His funeral service had taken place at St Thomas’s church, Brambles Farm, and was attended by four holders of the VC: Stanley Hollis, Edward Cooper, Tom Dresser and William McNally. The ‘Last Post’ was played by a member of the British Legion and a large detachment of Legion members was present together with the mayor of Teesside.
Smith’s VC was bequeathed to the Border Regiment OCA and presented to the regiment at a ceremony on 5 September 1968 at Carlisle Castle, where it is currently on display.
SOURCES
The sources used in the preparation of this book include the following:
The London Gazette, 1914–20 (HMSO)
The Lummis VC files at the National Army Museum, London
The National Archives, Kew, Surrey
The Royal Artillery Institution, Woolwich
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VCs of the First World War 1914 Page 25