James Kirk (VC)

James Kirk VC (January 27, 1897 - November 4, 1918) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross. Kirk was a 21-year-old resident of Cheadle Hulme, a second lieutenant in the 10th Battalion, The Manchester Regiment, British Army, attached to the 2nd Battalion during the First World War when the actions that led to his recognition took place.

On 4 November, 1918, north of Ors, France, the battalion was attempting to bridge the Sambre-Oise Canal. To cover this difficult operation, Second Lieutenant Kirk took a Lewis gun and under intense machine-gun fire paddled across the canal and opened fire. Further ammunition was paddled across to him and he continued to provide cover for the bridging party until he was killed. His courage and self-sacrifice enabled two platoons to cross the bridge and prevented many casualties.

References

*Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
*The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
*VCs of the First World War - The Final Days 1918 (Gerald Gliddon, 2000)

External links

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