Allan Ebenezer Ker
Allan Ebenezer Ker (5 March 1883 – 12 September 1958) 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. He was 35 years old, and a Lieutenant in the 3rd Bn., The Gordon Highlanders, British Army, attached 61st Bn., Machine Gun Corps during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. On 21 March 1918 near St. Quentin, France, when the enemy had penetrated our line, Lieutenant Ker, with one Vickers 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 over-run - he had managed to hold 500 of the enemy off for three hours. He later achieved the rank of Major.
ReferenceMonuments To Courage (David Harvey, 1999)The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)SCOTLAND'S FORgotten VALOUR (Graham Ross, 1995)VCs of the First World War - Spring Offensive 1918 (Gerald Gliddon, 1997)
External linksLocation of grave and VC medal (N.W. London) This page has been from the Victoria Cross Reference with permission.
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