Walter Lorrain Brodie

File:Memorial to Walter Lorrain Brodie, Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh.jpg

Memorial to Walter Lorrain Brodie, Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh

Lieutenant Colonel Walter Lorrain Brodie Template:Post-nominals (28 July 1884 – 23 August 1918) 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.

Life

He was born on 28 July 1884 the son of John Wilson Brodie,<ref name="wartimememoriesproject">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> an Edinburgh chartered accountant, and his wife Grace Mary Lorrain. The family lived at 13 Belgrave Place in Edinburgh's fashionable West End.<ref>Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1890–91</ref> At the time of Walter's death they had moved to a nearby house at 23 Belgrave Crescent. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy then at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.

A career soldier, he was commissioned second lieutenant in the Highland Light Infantry in March 1904<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> and became a lieutenant in 1906.<ref name="lck2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was an expert in the use of machine-guns.

Brodie was 29 years old, and a lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion, The Highland Light Infantry, British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place on 11 November 1914 near Becelaere, Belgium, for which he was awarded the VC: Template:Quote Brodie personally killed nine men in the attack. In a letter to his parents the following day he described the event as "a bit of a scrape".

He received the Victoria Cross from King George V at Windsor Castle on 17 July 1915.<ref>VCs of the First World War: Gerald Giddon</ref> In January 1917 he was awarded the Military Cross.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>

He was promoted captain in October 1914<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> and Brevet Major in January 1918.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> He later achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Brodie was killed in action near Behagnies, France, on 23 August 1918. He is buried in Bienvillers Military Cemetery in grave XVIII F15.<ref name="cwgc">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Freemasonry

He was a Scottish Freemason having been Initiated in Lodge Canongate Kilwinning, No. 2, (Edinburgh) on 7 February, was Passed a Fellow of Craft on 28 February and Raised a Master Mason on 28 March 1906.<ref>The Great War 1914-1918 Victoria Cross Freemasons. Granville Angell. 2014. Pp.83-86. Template:ISBN</ref>

Memorials

He is memorialised on his parents' grave in the modern north extension to Dean Cemetery in western Edinburgh. A memorial to Brodie also exists in the New Club on Princes Street of which he was a member.<ref name="lck2"/> A pavement memorial was installed at Brodie's home in Belgrave Place, Edinburgh, around 2020.

Brodie's medals are on loan to the National War Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Further reading

• Monuments to Courage
• The Register of the Victoria Cross
• Scotland's Forgotten Valour
• VCs of the First World War - 1914