Herbert Stephen Henderson VC (30 March 1870 – 10 August 1942) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

-born

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

n recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest British and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

award. Henderson was born in Glasgow and educated at Kelvinside Academy in Glasgow.

Details

Henderson was 26 years old, and a trooper in the Rhodesia Horse, Bulawayo Field Force during the

Matabeleland Rebellion The Second Matabele War, also known as the Matabeleland Rebellion or part of what is now known in Zimbabwe as the First '' Chimurenga'', was fought between 1896 and 1897 in the region later known as Southern Rhodesia, now modern-day Zimbabwe. ...

, when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. On 30 March 1896 at Campbell's Store, near Bulawayo,

(now Zimbabwe), a patrol which had been sent to the rescue of another beleaguered patrol, was surprised by rebels and Trooper Henderson and another trooper were cut off from the main party. The second trooper was shot through the knee and his horse killed, so Trooper Henderson put the wounded man on his own horse, and, walking beside it, made his way to Bulawayo, 35 miles away. They had to move principally by night, as the country was full of marauding rebels and they had no food for two days and one night. He was involved in the mining industry. He was prevented from serving in World War I as he was working in a reserved occupation.

Medal

His VC is on display at the National Army Museum in Chelsea, London.

References

Account of the action

Profile
*'' Monuments to Courage'' (David Harvey, 1999) *'' The Register of the Victoria Cross'' (This England, 1997) *''Scotland's Forgotten Valour'' (Graham Ross, 1995) {{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Herbert Stephen British recipients of the Victoria Cross Rhodesian recipients of the Victoria Cross 1870 births 1942 deaths Second Matabele War recipients of the Victoria Cross British colonial army soldiers Military personnel from Glasgow People educated at Kelvinside Academy Deaths from ulcers Scottish people of the British Empire