[1] Shortly after the outbreak of the First World War, members of the Ulster Volunteer Force were urged to join the British Army to form an infantry division.

[1] The 36th Division was stationed near Thiepval Wood from March 1916 and would be involved in the forthcoming Battle of the Somme, for which it was tasked with advancing to Grandcourt.

[3] On 1 July, the opening day of the Battle of the Somme, Quigg's unit, starting from the village of Hamel, located on the north bank of the River Ancre, advanced towards the German lines.

The final assault in the evening of 1 July left numerous soldiers of the 12th Battalion dead or wounded in "no man's land".

[1] The VC, instituted in 1856, was the highest award for gallantry that could be bestowed on a serviceman of the armed forces of the British Empire.

Lady Macnaghten presented Quigg with a gold watch in recognition of his bravery in attempting to find and rescue her son.

Quigg, who was also awarded the Russian the Order of St. George (Fourth Class) in February 1917,[7] returned to active duty and went on to serve in Mesopotamia and Egypt, ending the war as a sergeant.

He was then employed as a civilian at the Royal Ulster Rifles Depot in Armagh before, in 1934, starting work as a tour guide on the Giant's Causeway.

[11] Shortly afterwards, an Ulster History Circle blue plaque naming Quigg was applied to the school building that he attended as a boy.