Full medal write up
Prior to the major offensive on the Somme, their unit had been placed in the French village of Hamel, located on the north bank of the River Ancre. On 1st July 1916, the Mid-Antrim Volunteers were ordered to advance through the defenses towards the heavily defended German lines. During the advance, they encountered fierce resistance from heavy machine-gun and shell fire. Quigg's Platoon made three advances during the day, only to be beaten back on each occasion by German fire. The final evening assault left many hundreds of the 12th Battalion lying dead and wounded in "No Man's Land". In the early hours of the next morning, it was reported that Lieutenant Harry Macnaughten, the Platoon commander was missing; Robert Quigg volunteered to go out into "No Man's Land" to try and locate him. He went out seven times to search for the missing officer, without success. On each occasion, he came under machine-gun fire, but he managed to return with a wounded colleague. It was reported that, on one of his forays, he crawled within yards of the German position in order to rescue a wounded soldier, whom he dragged back on a waterproof groundsheet. After seven hours of trying, exhaustion got the better of him; Robert had to rest from his efforts. The body of Lieutenant Harry Macnaghten was never recovered………….
Postcard sized Approx 13.7 x 8.6 cm. The above taken from the fine vconline website:
http://www.vconline.org.uk/robert-quigg-vc/4587953755.html
A scarce original period VC recipient VC photo postcard.