Company Sergeant Major John Clark Hannah

John Clark Hannah M.M was a respected soldier of the Cameronians and was considered somewhat of a celebrity in his Battalion being looked up to by other fellow soldiers such as Ian Bilbo. This celebrity status came to Hannah as a result of being awarded the Military Medal for his gallantry when ambushing enemy ‘bandits’ in Kampong Tengah New Village, Malaya.

One additional reason Hannah received his M.M, was for successfully preventing an ambush by the enemy as Hannah was seen wasting no time fighting back against the Bandits.

These efforts were recognised as a result of Hannah’s great courage and evasive/ offensive manoeuvres in the Sekarek area of Selumper when his platoon was crossing a swamp.

Hannah also became acting Platoon commander taking over form Captain M.W. Galloway at the time, this showed Hannah was generally considered a trustworthy and reliable member of his platoon.

Later on in Hannah’s service he was eventually promoted to Warrant Officer II and appointed Company Quarter Master Sergeant and later Company Sergeant Major.

Hannah was also recognised as the man to kill the 100th bandit during the war in Malaya. This 100th kill came from an ambush of three Malayan Bandits with the rest of his Mortar Platoon, which consisted of Sergeant Hughes, Rifleman Farrel, Riflemen Baillie, Mathieson Walker, MacMillan and Chapman. In this said ambush Hannah killed two of the men as they retreated.

During Hannah’s time at company camp in Deighton Towns as a Company Sergeant Major, he managed to catch an impressive 42 trout when fishing with his platoon. This in many ways show Hannah’s character, as it portraits his competitiveness amongst his men as well as his ability to still enjoy himself during his time in war. This sort of story only adds another reason for Hannah’s celebrity status.

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