Allan Ker | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 5 March 1883 (1883-03-05) Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Died | 12 September 1958(1958-09-12) (aged 75) Hampstead, England |
| Buried | West Hampstead Cemetery |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  British Army |
| Rank | Major |
| Unit | Gordon Highlanders |
| Battles / wars | First World War |
| Awards |  Victoria Cross |
MajorAllan Ebenezer KerVC (5 March 1883 – 12 September 1958) was aBritish Army officer and a Scottish recipient of theVictoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded toBritish andCommonwealth forces.
He was born inEdinburgh on 5 March 1883 the son of Robert Darling KerWS (1853-1940) and his wife Johanna Johnston.[1] The family lived at 14 Findhorn Place in theGrange district.[2]
He was educated atEdinburgh Academy. He then studied law at theUniversity of Edinburgh.[3][1] Before theFirst World War he had his own legal practice at 5 George Street in theNew Town and was living at "St Abbs", a villa on Russell Place inTrinity.[4]
In 1908 he joined a unit of theTerritorial Force: theQueen's Edinburgh Mounted Rifles. In 1914 he went toAberdeen to settle the affairs of his cousin, Captain Arthur Milford Ker[5] who had been killed in the first weeks of theFirst World War and Allan was persuaded to join his cousin's regiment; theGordon Highlanders.[1]
He was 35 years old, and alieutenant in the 3rd Battalion, The Gordon Highlanders,[6]British Army, attached 61st Battalion,Machine Gun Corps during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded theVictoria Cross (VC).
On 21 March 1918 nearSaint-Quentin, France, when the enemy had penetrated the British line, Lieutenant Ker, with oneVickers gun, succeeded in holding up the attack, inflicting many casualties. He then stayed at his post with a sergeant and several men who had been badly wounded, beating off bayonet attacks with revolvers, the Vickers gun having been destroyed. Although exhausted from want of food and gas poisoning, as well as from fighting and attending to the wounded, Lieutenant Ker only surrendered when all his ammunition was spent and the position overrun - he had managed to hold 500 of the enemy off for three hours.[7]
He was, however, captured in the event and spent the remainder of the war as aprisoner of war only being released in December 1918, a few weeks after thearmistice of 11 November 1918. He was gazetted for the VC on 4 September 1919 and was presented the medal personally by KingGeorge V atBuckingham Palace on 26 November 1919.[8] On 11 November 1920 he was one of the 100 VC winners chosen as the guard of honour, escorting the gun carriage to theTomb of the Unknown Soldier inWestminster Abbey.[3]
He later achieved the rank ofmajor. He was demobbed in 1922 and went back to practising law, but in London rather than Edinburgh.
In 1926 he was one of four VC holders who laid a wreath after the dedication of theMachine Gun Corps Memorial atHyde Park Corner. The others wereArthur Henry Cross,Reginald Graham, andWilliam Allison White.[9][8]
In theSecond World War he served on the Directorate of theChief of the Imperial General Staff.[8] His duties included attendance at thePotsdam Conference in July/August 1945.
He died at New Garden Hospital inHampstead, North London, on 12 September 1958 aged 75.[10] He is buried inWest Hampstead Cemetery but was also memorialised in 2018 on his parents' restored grave inGrange Cemetery in south Edinburgh.
Anthony Powell later used him as the inspiration for the character of Colonel Finn in his novelsThe Soldier's Art (1966) andThe Military Philosophers (1968).[11]
A plaque was erected on his birthplace at 16 Findhorn Place inThe Grange, Edinburgh in 2018.[12]
| Ribbon | Description | Notes |
| Victoria Cross (VC) |
|
| British War Medal | |
| WWI Victory Medal |
|
| Defence Medal | |
| War Medal 1939–1945 | |
| King George V Silver Jubilee Medal |
|
| King George VI Coronation Medal |
|
| Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal |
|
| Order of Military Merit |
|
His VC is on display in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery at theImperial War Museum, London.[13]