After I had finished walking around the garden at Billy Old Rectory a couple of weeks past I went into the adjoining graveyard to view the grave of Robert Quigg.
Quigg had enlisted in the 12th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles at the outbreak of the Great War. Fate and the, "Red Tabs" resulted in him being in the forward trenches near the village of Hamel on the opening day of the Battle of the Somme. Having heard that his platoon commander was lying wounded in no-mans land he attempted to locate him on seven separate occasions, braving the shell and raking gun fire. On each occasion he brought back a wounded soldier. His efforts resulted in him being awarded the Victoria Cross. The award was gazetted on 9th September 1916 and he was presented with his medal at Sandringham by King George V in January 1917. Quigg was one nine soldiers from the Ulster Division who won the VC during the Great War.
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