Editing David Finlay (VC)

{{short description|Recipient of the Victoria Cross}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
|name=David Finlay
|birth_date= 29 January 1893
|death_date= 21 January 1916 (aged 22)
|image=VCDavidFinlay.jpg
|caption=
|nickname=
|birth_place=[[Guardbridge]], [[Fife]]
|death_place=[[Iraq]]
|placeofburial=Remembered on the Basra Memorial
|allegiance={{UK}}
|branch=[[File:Flag of the British Army.svg|23px]] [[British Army]]
|serviceyears= 1910 - 1916{{KIA}}
|rank=[[Sergeant]]
|unit=[[Black Watch]]
|commands=
|battles=[[World War I]]
|awards= [[Victoria Cross]]
|relations=
|laterwork=
}}
'''David Finlay''' [[Victoria Cross|VC]] (29 January 1893<ref>Births (CR) Scotland. Guardbridge, Leuchars, Fife. FINLAY, David. 29 January 1893. 445/00 0014. [http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk Scotlands' People web site] : accessed 21 December 2014.</ref> &ndash; 21 January 1916) was a [[Scotland|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 Army|British]] and [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] forces.

==Details==
Finlay was the son of a shepherd named George Finlay and his wife Susan Small. He was 22 years old, and a [[lance-corporal]] in the 2nd Battalion, [[Black Watch|The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)]], [[British Army]] during the [[World War I|First World War]] when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 9 May 1915 near Rue du Bois, [[France]], Lance-Corporal Finlay led a bombing party of 12 men in the attack until 10 of them had fallen. He then ordered the two survivors to crawl back and he himself went to the assistance of a wounded man and carried him over a distance of 100 yards of fire-swept ground into cover, quite regardless of his own safety.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29210|pages=6269–6270  |date=29 June 1915}}</ref>

Finlay was later promoted to the rank of [[sergeant]]. He was killed in action in [[Mesopotamia]] on 21 January 1916 and is remembered on the [[Basra Memorial]].<ref>[http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/865050 CWGC entry]</ref>

==Further information==
Finlay is commemorated on the war memorial in [[Moonzie]] Kirkyard in [[Fife]].  There is now a memorial stone in the children's play park in the north end of Guardbridge his home village. The village also has a recently added street named after him.

==The medal==
His Victoria Cross is displayed at the [[Black Watch Museum]], Balhousie Castle, [[Perth, Scotland]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[[Monuments to Courage]] (David Harvey, 1999)
*Scotland's Forgotten Valour (Graham Ross, 1995)
*{{cite book|last1=Batchelor|first1=Peter|last2=Matson|first2=Christopher|title=The Western Front 1915|series=[[VCs of the First World War]]|year=2011|publisher=[[The History Press]]|location=[[Stroud]], [[Gloucestershire]]|isbn=978-0-7524-6057-4}}
*{{cite book|year=1997|title=The Register of the Victoria Cross|editor-last=Buzzell|editor-first=Nora|location=[[Cheltenham]], [[Gloucestershire]]|publisher=This England Alma House|isbn=0-906324-27-0}}
*[http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/865050 David Finlay] at [[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]]
*Archives catalogue for the [http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/35a3d664-c795-4d9b-94b1-e0deeddcff50 David Finlay Collection], The Black Watch Castle & Museum, Perth, Scotland.

{{Royal Regiments of Scotland}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Finlay, David}}
[[Category:1893 births]]
[[Category:1916 deaths]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Fife]]
[[Category:British World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:Black Watch soldiers]]
[[Category:Scottish military personnel killed in action]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:British military personnel killed in World War I]]
[[Category:British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross]]