Henderson, Hubert
Captain
No. 137933, 2nd Battalion, the London Irish Rifles, Royal Ulster Rifles
Killed in action on Thursday 21 January 1943 (aged 34)
No known grave
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Medjez-el-Bab Memorial, Tunisia (Face 30)
Rockport School Craigavad
Father’s headstone in Alloway Parish Church Graveyard, Ayr
BIOGRAPHY
Hubert Henderson was born on 20 October 1908 in Blyth, Northumberland and his birth was registered in Tynemouth. He was a son of Ephraim McMurtrie Henderson, who was born in Ayr, and Sarah Henderson (nee Steel) who were married on 31 January 1907 in St. Leonard’s Church of Scotland, Ayr. Sarah was a daughter of Gilbert Steel who worked as a horse trainer. Ephraim Henderson was a medical practitioner and he was 35 when he died on 18 March 1909 at Newsham, Northumberland. Dr Ephraim Henderson was buried in Alloway Parish Church Graveyard in Ayr.
Hubert Henderson was less than five months old when his father died.
Sarah Henderson (nee Steel) married Robert James Adams who was a linen manufacturer and they lived at Moyola, 21 Adelaide Park, Belfast. Hubert Henderson was educated at Rockport School, Craigavad and, after he left school, he worked as a linen salesman. Between 1930 and 1932 he travelled regularly in that capacity between Belfast and New York, USA.
Hubert Henderson’s marriage to Eila P. Bryce was registered in the second quarter of 1934 in Kensington, London and they lived at 49 Godfrey Street, Chelsea, London. During the Second World War Captain Hubert Henderson (No. 137933) served with the London Irish Rifles, Royal Ulster Rifles and in November 1942 the London Irish Rifles left Glasgow on route for North Africa. When they entered Tunisia, heavy rain turned the ground into a quagmire and conditions were atrocious. Tanks got stuck in the mud and ‘H’ Company was involved in the task of retrieving them. Subsequently ‘H’ Company was ordered forward to take Hill 286 and Captain Hubert Henderson was second in command of ‘H’ Company when he was killed during fighting on Hill 286. His effects amounted to some £1,141 and probate was granted to his widow, Eila Henderson, and his mother, Sarah Adams.
Captain Hubert Henderson (No. 137933) was 34 when he died, and he is commemorated on the Medjez-el-Bab Memorial in Tunisia; in Rockport School and on his father’s headstone in Alloway Parish Church Graveyard in Ayr.