Ian John McKay VC

Victoria Cross

The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....

 (7 May 1953 – 12 June 1982) was a posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross

Victoria Cross

The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....

, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and Commonwealth

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...

 forces.

Born in Wortley

Wortley, South Yorkshire

Wortley is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. At the 2001 census it had a population of 579.Wortley grew up as a settlement where the Sheffield to Halifax road crossed the Cheshire to Rotherham route...

, near Barnsley

Barnsley

Barnsley is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Dearne, north of the city of Sheffield, south of Leeds and west of Doncaster. Barnsley is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, of which Barnsley is the largest and...

, South Yorkshire

South Yorkshire

South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, Ian McKay was Platoon Sergeant of 4 Platoon, B Company, 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, during the Falklands War

Falklands War

The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...

 when the deed described below took place, for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. He is buried at the Aldershot Military Cemetery

Aldershot Military Cemetery

Aldershot Military Cemetery, is a burial ground for military personnel, or ex-military personnel. It is located in Aldershot Military Town, Hampshire...

. He was 29 years old when he died.

Citation

The medal

McKay's medals were sold by his wife around the year 2000, to the disappointment of the Regimental Museum

Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces Museum

The Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces Museum is now located at Imperial War Museum Duxford. Prior to 2008 it was based at Browning Barracks in the Aldershot Military Town area near Aldershot in Hampshire...

, who had hoped to obtain them. His VC is on display in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery at the Imperial War Museum

Imperial War Museum

Imperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...

, London.

Legacy

The Territorial Army centre in Sgt McKay's home town of Rotherham

Rotherham

Rotherham is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Don, at its confluence with the River Rother, between Sheffield and Doncaster. Rotherham, at from Sheffield City Centre, is surrounded by several smaller settlements, which together form the wider Metropolitan Borough of...

 is named "McKay VC Barracks", also an accommodation block at the Defence Academy at Shrivenham was named McKay House in his honour.

In mid October of 2011, Sergeants and Warrant Officers bar at MPA

RAF Mount Pleasant

RAF Mount Pleasant is a military base for the Royal Air Force in the British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands. The facility is part of the British Forces South Atlantic Islands...

, Falkland Islands

Falkland Islands

The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...

, was renamed as "Ian McKay VC Bar" in his honour.

In the media

McKay was profiled in the 2006 television docudrama

Docudrama

In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....

 Victoria Cross Heroes

Victoria Cross Heroes

Victoria Cross Heroes is a three-part television docudrama recipients first broadcast by Five in 2006 that tells the stories of some of the recipients of the Victoria Cross.-Production:...

, which included archive footage, dramatisations of his actions and an interview with his mother.

External links

• Location of grave and VC medal (Hampshire)
• Sergeant Ian McKay