Hugh Cairns (VC)


Hugh Cairns, was a Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Background

He was born in Ashington, Northumberland, England. The Cairns family immigrated to Canada and settled in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1911. He was a member of the Christ Church Choir, and as a keen footballer, he played for the Christ Church Intermediate Boys Football club, reaching the championship of the Sunday School League however only scoring 1 goal in 104 matches. He also played for the St. Thomas Church team when they won the Saskatoon League Championship in 1915.
Hugh and his older brother Albert enlisted in the army in August 1915. Cairns was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his actions at the Battle of Vimy Ridge in April 1917. At the time DCM was the second highest award for gallantry in the British honours system.

VC details

He was 21 years old, and a sergeant in the 46th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force during the Hundred Days Offensive of the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
With the German surrender and armistice on 11 November, ten days later, Sergeant Cairns would prove to be the last of seventy-one Canadians to earn the Victoria Cross for his actions in the Great War. Cairns was also awarded the Légion d'honneur by the Government of France.
Cairns is buried in the Auberchicourt British Cemetery, seven kilometres east of Douai, France, roughly sixteen kilometres north of Cambrai,.

Legacy

His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Canada. In March 1936, the town of Valenciennes renamed one of its principal streets "Avenue du Sergent Cairns".
Cairns has several buildings and locations named after him in his hometown of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan including Hugh Cairns V.C. School, and the Hugh Cairns V.C. Armoury. The school is located on Cairns Avenue, however the street was not named for Hugh Cairns, but rather for Saskatoon pioneer John Cairns. In addition, a statue of Cairns, known as the Footballer's Memorial, is in the city's Kinsmen Park.