George Albert Cairns VC (12th December 1913 - 19th March 1944)

José Brito paints a bust in commemoration of an extraordinary story of valour.

George Albert Cairns was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry ‘in the presence of the enemy’ awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth Armed Forces. Cairns was born in London on 12 December 1913. Having begun work in a Bank in Sidcup, he married Ena in 1941, and a year later went to war.

Cairns was a lieutenant in The Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert’s), attached to the South Staffordshire Regiment in Burma. The regiment was a Chindit battalion, part of 77th Indian Infantry Brigade under the command of Brigadier Michael Calvert. On the evening of 16 March 1944, the South Staffords had dug in near what would become a main hinge of the Chindit operation, the block at Henu and Mawlu (known as the White City). A nearby hill surmounted by a pagoda dominated the horizon. It was not occupied by the British or (as far as could be seen) by the Japanese. The following morning, a number of unsuspecting Japanese soldiers were discovered in the area; it was clear that the South Staffords had positioned themselves adjacent to a small Japanese force without either knowing of the other’s presence … at around 1100 hours, the hill erupted with enemy fire.

Calvert, who led the attack, wrote, ‘On the top of Pagoda Hill, not much bigger than two tennis courts, an amazing scene developed. The small white pagoda was in the centre of the hill. Between that and the slopes which came up was a mêlée of South Staffords and Japanese bayonetting, fighting with each other, with some Japanese just throwing grenades from the flanks into the mêlée.’ Calvert added, ‘There, at the top of the hill, about fifty yards square, an extraordinary mêlée took place, everyone shooting, bayoneting, kicking at everyone else, rather like an officer guest night.’