May VC, Henry (1885 - 1941)

Private, 1st Bn. Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)

Buried at Riddrie Park Cemetery

Commemorated at

The first Glaswegian to receive the Victoria Cross showed bravery typical of soldiers who put their own safety aside for fierce loyalty to their "chums". Private Henry May, a reservist with The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), braved a "hail of lead" fighting to rescue first one soldier, and then another.

On 22 October, 1914, May's battalion was building trenches at La Boutillerie. A platoon was sent out to form a screen to protect those behind. May recalled advancing 800 yards to a ditch, and the platoon held back the enemy until the trenches were dug.

Rescue under fire:
But when they tried to return, the Germans opened fire. Lance Corporal Lawton was shot, and May went to his aid. He later recalled: "I ran across the firing line, through a hail of lead, followed by two of my chums, Lance Corporal James McCall and Private James Bell."

Devotion to a senior officer:
May and McCall pulled Lawton to his feet. The platoon commander, Lieutenant Graham, had followed them and fired back at the Germans, but Lawton was shot and died in May's arms. McCall had been shot too and was unconscious. May threw himself to the ground. Then Graham was shot. "He was behind me, I had to go back," recalled May. "It was great devotion that impelled me to rescue him. He had been so good to us." May and Bell retrieved Graham and zig-zagged a quarter of a mile when Bell was wounded. They were still 300 yards from the trenches. Another soldier, Corporal Taylor, came running from cover and shouted to May to lift Graham on to his shoulders - a moment later, Taylor was shot dead while holding Graham, who was hit by the same bullet. Graham told May to leave him, but May reached the trenches and sent out stretcher bearers.

A rapturous welcome:
May's wife Christina learned the news of his VC from journalists at her home in Bridgeton in April 1915, and the soldier received a rapturous welcome when he returned to Glasgow in August, carried aloft through the station. Modest about his actions, May later said: "I just did what any man in the regiment would have done to bring in a wounded man." Thanks to his rescue, Graham went on to become a decorated major-general.

Honoured in Bridgeton:
King George presented the VC to May on 12 August, 1915. He resumed his work in textiles in Bridgeton, where he had been born, and lived with his wife and three children. He is remembered in a series of granite paving slabs at Bridgeton Cross, inset with local VC holders' names.