b. ? 1885 Scotland. d. 06/11/1921 Earlsferry, Scotland.
DATE OF AM ACTION: 27/05/1916 Blackdown, near Aldershot, Hampshire.
Neil MacKinnon AM Medal Card
Neil MacKinnon was a Lieutenant (later Captain) in the Highland Light Infantry and King’s African Rifles. In WWI he served as a bombing instructor and didn’t see overseas service.
AM CITATION:
At bombing practice, one of the men under instruction failed to clear the parapet with his bomb, which rolled down into the mud at the bottom of the trench. Lieutenant Mackinnon at once sprang forward to seize the bomb, but was impeded by the thrower, who was endeavouring to get clear; he succeeded, however, in securing the bomb after groping for it in the mud, and in throwing it clear of the trench just before it exploded. There were two men in the trench at the time besides Lieutenant Mackinnon and the thrower, and undoubtedly a serious accident was averted by the Lieutenant’s courage and coolness.
BURIAL LOCATION: KILCONQUHAR PARISH CHURCHYARD, KILCONQUHAR, FIFE, SCOTLAND.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: UNKNOWN.
Acknowledgement:
Paul Barnett – Images of MacKinnon’s grave.