Donald Farmer

Donald Farmer
Born	(1877-05-28)28 May 1877 Kelso, Scottish Borders
Died	Liverpool, England
Buried	Anfield Crematorium, Liverpool
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Rank	Lieutenant-Colonel
Unit	The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders King's Regiment (Liverpool)
Battles/wars	Mahdist War Second Boer War World War I
Awards	Victoria Cross Meritorious Service Medal

Lieutenant-Colonel Donald Dickson Farmer VC MSM (28 May 1877 – 23 December 1956) was a Scottish 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.

He joined the Cameron Highlanders on 29 March 1892, and served with the 1st Battalion in the Sudan Campaign, 1898, and was present at the battles of Atbara and Khartoum.

Details

Farmer was 23 years old, and a sergeant in the 1st Battalion, The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, British Army during the Second Boer War when he won the VC on 13 December 1900 at Nooitgedacht, South Africa,. His citation reads:

During the attack on General Clements Camp at Nooitgedacht, on the 13th December, 1900, Lieutenant Sandilands, Cameron Highlanders, with fifteen men, went to the assistance of a picquet which was heavily engaged, most of the men having been killed or wounded. The enemy, who were hidden by trees, opened fire on the party at a range of about 20 yards, killing two and wounding five, including Lieutenant Sandilands. Sergeant Farmer at once went to the Officer, who was perfectly helpless, and carried him away under a very heavy and close fire to a place of comparative safety, after which he returned to the firing line and was eventually taken prisoner.

During World War I he served with the King's Regiment (Liverpool).

The medal

His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Regimental Museum of Queens Own Highlanders, Fort George, Inverness-shire, Scotland.

References

• Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
• The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
• Scotland's Forgotten Valour (Graham Ross, 1995)
• Victoria Crosses of the Anglo-Boer War (Ian Uys, 2000)
• Liverpool VCs (James Murphy, Pen and Sword Books, 2008)

External links

• Location of grave and VC medal (Liverpool)
• Donald Farmer at Find a Grave