James Hendry (GC)

James Hendry GC
Born	(1911-12-20)20 December 1911 Falkirk, Scotland
Died	13 June 1941(1941-06-13) (aged 29) Loch Laggan, Scotland
Buried	Brookwood Military Cemetery, Surrey
Allegiance	Canada
Rank	Corporal
Unit	Royal Canadian Engineers
Battles/wars	World War II  †
Awards	George Cross

James Hendry, GC (20 December 1911 – 13 June 1941) was a Canadian corporal who was posthumously awarded the George Cross for gallantry and self-sacrifice displayed on 13 June 1941 while attempting to extinguish a fire in an explosives store.

Hendry was born in Falkirk, Scotland on 20 December 1911^[1] to parents John and Janet Hendry. The family lived in Geraldton, Ontario before the war with several working in the local gold mines.

George Cross[]

Hendry was serving with No.1 Tunnelling Company of the Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers, who had been given the task of digging the tunnel between Loch Spey and Loch Laggan to supply water to the British Aluminium works at Fort William, when a fire broke out in an explosives store near Loch Laggan. He ordered his colleagues to run to safety and attempted to extinguish the blaze rather than attempt to escape the inevitable explosion. The blast also killed his colleague Sapper John MacDougall Stewart,^[2] and seven more were injured.

Hendry was buried^[3] in Brookwood Military Cemetery in Surrey. The Royal Canadian Engineers dedicated their range control building to the corporal in recognition of his bravery in 1994.^[4] In August 2008, a memorial cairn honouring Corporal Hendry was unveiled at Loch Laggan near where he was killed.^[5] The ceremony was attended by his last surviving brother, William Hendry, of Thunder Bay, Ontario.

References[]

External links[]

• CWGC: James Hendry