Bravery in Mesopotamia: The Action That Earned Graham the Victoria Cross

The Victoria Cross Medal (VC) is the highest military declaration award in the United Kingdom for acts of extreme bravery in the presence of the enemy. It was first established by Queen Victoria following the Crimean War in 1856 and has since been awarded 1,358 times. One of these recipients was Lieutenant Colonel Sir John Reginald Noble Graham, 3^rd Baronet, 9^th Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. This month, our blog takes a closer look into ‘Reggie’ Graham’s gallantry during the First World War.

Graham was born on the 17^th of September 1892 in Calcutta, India. He was educated at Eton College and Trinity College at Cambridge before moving to Glasgow in 1912 to join the family firm Messrs William Graham & Co. During the First World War, on the 15^th of January 1915, Graham joined the 2/9^th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders at Dumbarton. In October of that year, Graham was promoted to Lieutenant and was seconded to the Machine Gun Corps on the 22^nd of June 1916. After training at Grantham, Graham was posted to the 136^th Company and sailed for Mesopotamia with them on the 18^th of September 1916. They arrived at Basra on the 14^th of October and he remained with the 136^th Company throughout the advance to Bagdad.

After the fall of Baghdad, Graham engaged in the battle of Istabulat, Mesopotamia, on the 22^nd of April 1917. He was in command of his section at the time and accompanied his guns across open ground under heavy rifle and machine gun fire. Many of his men lost their lives during this engagement and in order to keep the machine guns supplied, Graham personally assisted in carrying the ammunition. Graham was twice wounded but continued to control his guns in the advance and with only one gun, he was able to open an accurate fire on the enemy who were massing for a counterattack. This gun was put out of action by the enemy’s rifle fire, and he was again wounded. The advancing enemy forced him to retire but before doing so, Graham further disabled his gun so that it was useless to the enemy.  Graham then brought a Lewis gun into the action and used this until all the ammunition was expended. He was severely wounded again and forced to retire from the battle due to blood loss. It was these heroic and brave actions that led to Graham being awarded the Victoria Cross medal. Graham’s bravery and skills with the guns held up a strong counterattack which threatened to roll up the left flank of the Brigade and therefore he helped to avert what could have been a very critical situation.

Graham’s was first wounded in his right hand. He wrote in a letter home with his left hand explaining his injuries. He wrote “It smashed the tip of 1^st finger and thumb and laid open the big muscle down the wrist. It is a nasty dirty wound.” His second wound was through the right leg and was hit only a few minutes after the first. His third and fourth wounds were caused by snipers when he was mounting and firing the gun. His third wound was on his face. A bullet grazed his right cheek, just below his eye, leaving a scar for life. His fourth wound was in his left forearm after the sniper bullet went through his machine gun. His fifth and final wound happened around 15 minutes later when he was crossing the open to take a message to the C.O. He was hit through both of his thighs. Graham wrote “So here I am about as lucky as I could be: 6 wounds and not a bone touched, not a bullet in me.”

Graham later became a Major in the Territorial Army Reserve in November 1919 and later retired and became a Captain in the Indian Auxiliary Force. He married Rachel Septima on the 8^th of November 1920 at All Saints Church in Bombay. They had two children, one daughter and one son.

The Argyll legacy with the Graham family would continue with Graham’s grandson, Major General Andrew John Noble Graham. Andrew Graham also joined the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in 1975 and was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1993 New Year Honours, became Commanding Officer of his regiment in 1995 and commander of the 3^rd Infantry Brigade in 1999. He became the Royal Regiment of Scotland’s first colonel from 31^st March 2007, and appointed Director General of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom from 2008.

If you would like to learn more about ‘Reggie’ Graham’s story and the battle of Istabulat, you can listen to his grandson, Sir Andrew Graham, talk about it at one of our Winter Talks here: https://argylls.co.uk/argylls-with-general-maude-to-baghdad-and-beyond/

Written by Caitlin Stewart, Digital Content Volunteer