Henry Mateus “Harcus” Strachan VC MC

b. 07/11/1884 Bo’ness, Scotland. d. 01/05/1982 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Henry Mateus “Harcus” Strachan (1884-1982) was born on 7th November 1884 at Grange Terrace, Borrowstounness, Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland. His surname is pronounced “Strawn” and he would get annoyed if it was said wrongly. His father, William, was a fiscal clerk, and later a lawyer’s clerk. He was living in Linlithgow, when he married Isabella Thomson Veitch on 19th February 1874 at 24 Prince Albert Buildings, Edinburgh. William later became a solicitor and was appointed Sheriff of Linlithgowshire prior to his death in 1908. Harcus’ mother, Isabella, then emigrated with some of her children to Canada. Harcus had six siblings in all.

Harcus was educated at Borrowstounness Academy, Linlithgow, at Royal High School, Edinburgh, where he was a member of the Rugby XV and Cricket XI. He then attended the University of Edinburgh where he studied medicine. He emigrated to Canada in 1909 with his mother and became a homesteader in Chauvin, Alberta. He left the farm in the hands of his mother, and siblings, when he attempted to enlist in Canada, but failed the eyesight test. He sailed for England, intending to join the London Scottish Regiment, but instead enlisted as a trooper at the Canadian Cavalry Depot in Canterbury, Kent.

Henry M “Harcus” Strachan VC MC

Strachan joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force on 15th July 1915, and following arrival on the Western Front, he was part of the Canadian Cavalry Brigade. He was promoted to Lieutenant in the Fort Garry Horse, which was part of the Canadian Cavalry Brigade. It has become traditional for the Garrys to hold a Regimental dinner every year on the anniversary of Strachan’s unlikely cavalry exploit.

Harcus was awarded the Military Cross for his actions in May 1917 commanding a party in an attack on enemy outposts in the area of Somerville Wood and Max Wood, south of St Quentin, France. They took eight prisoners and killed many more without suffering a single casualty. During a raid on 8th July he received gunshot wounds to his right arm and thigh and was also gassed. He was admitted to 2nd Canadian Field Ambulance and 55 then 34 Casualty Clearing Stations next day.

His VC action took place during the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917. It occurred on 20th November 1917 at Masnières, France, after Lieutenant Strachan took command of the mounted squadron of Garrys when his commanding officer, ‘B’ Squadron leader Captain Campbell, was killed by machine gun fire.

Believing that 29th Division with tanks already held the village of Masnieres, Brig. Gen. Nelson of 88th Brigade, ordered the Fort Garry Horse to advance across the St Quentin Canal. On approaching the river bridge in front of Masnieres, the Garrys could see that the town was still held by the enemy and that the bridge across the St Quentin Canal was broken. The Garrys then found the Hampshire Regiment were crossing, in single file, over the lock gates. Tearing up a wooden pier, they built a bridge suitable for horses to cross. By 4pm ‘B’ Squadron set out through a gap in the enemy wire, and approached the German front line at a gallop. B Squadron leader Capt. Campbell was killed, and Strachan took command, leading ‘B’ Squadron at the gallop across the countryside toward Rumilly.

Due to the state of the crossing at Masnieres and the limited available daylight Major-Gen W. H. Greenly commanding 2nd Cavalry Division, ordered any large-scale cavalry action to halt and ordered the recall of the units that had crossed the Canal. Neither Lt. Col. RW Patterson, commanding the Fort Garry Horse nor mounted orderlies, could find ‘B’ Squadron who were south-east of Rumilly to give them the rcall order.

B Squadron led by Strachan, cut its way through a line of infantry in a heavily camouflaged road and found a four-gunned German field battery in front of them. They charged, and rode down or sabred the gunners. German infantry positioned beyond the guns fired on them them and again Strachan led a charge, They broke the infantry but were under fire, taking more casualties as they rode towards Rumilly. Now with less than fifty men and only five unwounded horses, they sheltered in a sunken road 1,200 yards east of the town. Strachan realised there was to be no support, so he had the horses cut loose and he led the unit in a withdrawal towards the Canal. During this fighting withdrawal, B Squadron scatered four bodies of German troops.

In short, Lieutenant Strachan led the squadron through the enemy line of machine-gun posts and then, with the surviving men, led the charge on the German battery, killing seven of the gunners with his sword. When all the gunners were killed and the battery silenced, he rallied his men and fought his way back at night on foot through the enemy’s lines, bringing all unwounded men safely in, together with 15 prisoners.

Strachan, having been promoted to captain, received his VC and MC from King George V on 16th January, 1918. After a period of leave, he rejoined the Fort Garry Horse on 6th July 1918 and was appointed temporary major on 1st August. He was released from the Canadian Forces on 30th April 1919 to join the British forces in Archangel, Russia. On one of his furloughs he was presented with a sword of honour by the town of Borrowstounness, Linlithgow. Lord Rosebery was present at the presentation.

After his military service, he returned to his farm in the Chauvin district, Alberta. He ran as a Liberal candidate in the 1921 Alberta provincial election, in the Wainwright constituency, but was not elected, a victim of the Farmers’ sweep. He then decided to go into banking. He was a field supervisor at the Canadian Bank of Commerce at Calgary and Toronto. Harcus married Bessie Lorena Sterling in Calgary in 1928. She was from Selma, Nova Scotia and working in the bank at Chauvin when they married. They would have four children.

He attended the VC Dinner at the House of Lords, London on 9th November 1929. He was one of six VCs presented to King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at the Alberta Legislature during the royal couple’s visit to the Province in 1939. Strachan later commanded the 1st Battalion, Edmonton Fusiliers during the Second World War. After the war he retired and moved to Vancouver. Strachan eventually attained the rank of lieutenant colonel. He attended the VC Centenary Celebrations at Hyde Park, London on 26th June 1956, and was one of the seven VC pallbearers at the funeral of Michael O’Rourke VC at Mount Lehman, British Columbia on 10th December 1957. In 1967 he voiced his disdain for the U.S. proponents of the U.S.-Vietnam War.

Strachan died at the University of British Columbia Hospital, Vancouver, on 1st May 1982, at the age of 97 years and 175 days, at the time, the record longest-lived recipient of the Victoria Cross. He requested no funeral service. He was cremated at North Vancouver Crematorium in Vancouver. Strachan’s ashes were scattered near the Rose Garden Columbarium at Boal Chapel Memorial Gardens in North Vancouver, BC on 5th May 1982. Harcus is commemorated on the VC obelisk in Barrie, Ontario, and on the Canadian VCs plaque at the British High Commission, Ottawa. There is also a portrait of him at Parliament House, Ottawa, and he is named on the Fort Garry Horse Memorial in Masnieres, on the Boys Brigade VC Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum, Alrewas, Staffordshire, and has a VC commemorative stone placed at Borrowstounness War Memorial on 20th November 2017.

In September 2013 a lake in Manitoba was named “Harcus Strachan Lake” to commemorate his award of the Victoria Cross. In addition to his VC and MC, he was awarded the British War Medal 1914-20, Victory Medal 1914-19, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal 1939-45, War Medal 1929-45, Goerge VI Coronation Medal 1937, Elizabeth II Coronation Medal 1953, Canadian Centennial Medal 1967 and Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal 1977. Strachan’s medals were held in private ownership until 28th November 2017, when they were acquired by the Canadian War Museum, Ottawa.

LOCATION OF MEDAL: CANADIAN WAR MUSEUM, OTTAWA, CANADA.

BURIAL PLACE: BOAL CHAPEL MEMORIAL GARDENS, NORTH VANCOUVER, CANADA. (ASHES SCATTERED)