'How Corporal Mc Kay (Gordon Highlanders) won his Victoria Cross', 1900 (c)

Cigarette card published by Morris and Sons Limited, from a set entitled, 'Boer War, 1900', celebrating recipients of the Victoria Cross of the Boer War (1899-1902), 1900 (c).

Lance Corporal (later Lieutenant Colonel) J F MacKay, Gordon Highlanders, was awarded the Victoria Cross for his gallantry on 29 May 1900. MacKay tended to wounded comrades while under heavy enemy fire at Crow's Nest Hill, near Johannesburg.

Cigarette cards were produced from the mid 1870s until the end of World War Two (1939-1945). Used to strengthen thin cigarette packs the cards were quickly developed into advertising devices. Series of cards covering every conceivable subject, from sportsmen to flora and fauna, were produced to encourage collectors and potential smokers alike.