Bravery Gallery

How Piper Laidlaw won the Victoria Cross on September 25, 1915, (c1920). Creator

How Piper Laidlaw won the Victoria Cross on September 25, 1915, (c1920). Playing the 7th King's Own Scottish Borderers out of their trenches at the Battle of Loos in the midst of the gas attack'. During the Battle of Loos in northern France, British soldier Daniel Laidlaw (1875-1950) played his bagpipes to encourage the men of his regiment. He was awarded the Victoria Cross by King George V on 3 February 1916: For most conspicuous bravery prior to an assault on German trenches near Loos and Hill 70...During the worst of the bombardment, Piper Laidlaw, seeing that his company was badly shaken from the effects of gas, with absolute coolness and disregard of danger, mounted the parapet, marched up and down and played company out of the trench. The effect of his splendid example was immediate and the company dashed out to the assault. Piper Laidlaw continued playing his pipes until he was wounded. Laidlaw was also awarded the Croix de Guerre by France

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Certificate for French Croix de Guerre medal issued to Cpl. Lawrence L

Due to racial tension within the US Army, the 369th Infantry Regiment was assigned to the French Army for the duration of US involvement in World War I. Formed from the 15th New York National Guard Regiment and nicknamed the "Harlem Hellfighters," the 369th was the first African American regiment to reach the battlefields of World War I and the first Allied troops to reach the banks of the Rhine. Upon completion of the 369th's service in the war, the regiment had spent 191 days in combat, the longest of any American regiment. In appreciation for their actions in the Maison-en-Champagne campaign, the 369th was awarded the Croix de Guerre by the French Government for acts of bravery in conflicts against the enemy. In addition to this honor, 171 individual members of the 369th Regiment were awarded the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honor. The 369th Regiment finished their service in Europe and returned to the US in February 1919

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Volunteer going to retrieve bodies in the Gresford Colliery disaster, Wales, 1935

Volunteer going to retrieve bodies in the Gresford Colliery disaster, Wales, 1935. A man with a gas mask recieving last-minute instructions. Heroes of the Coal Mines: on 22 September 1934, occurred on of the worst disasters in mining history, when nearly 300 miners lost their lives...After the explosion which caused the tragedy, the gas fumes were so deadly that 254 bodies still in the pit could not be rescued, and the pit had to be sealed up. On 7 March 1935, volunteers who had been especially trained, descended into the death pit to report conditions. Here is one of these men, who risked his life to reclaim his comrades bodies'. From "The Silver Jubilee Book - The Story of 25 Eventful Years in Pictures". [Odhams Press Ltd., London, 1935]

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