Medal; Gallantry; Victoria Cross

This Victoria Cross medal was awarded to Corporal James Huntley Knight during the South African War which took place between 1899 - 1902. The Victoria Cross, or VC as commonly known, is the highest award in Britain given ‘for valour in the presence of the enemy’. Queen Victoria first awarded the VC to men who served in the Crimean War. The medal is still occasionally, but rarely, awarded today. The decoration takes the form of a Maltese cross-shaped medal made of bronze with raised borders outlining the shape of the cross. The front of the medal shows as its main feature the Royal Crown surmounted by a standing lion, with a draped scroll underneath bearing the inscribed motto (in capital letters) FOR VALOUR. The suspension bar is a straight laurelled bar; the plain reverse of the bar engraved with details of the recipient. A crimson, or dark red, silk ribbon is suspended from the bar. On arrival in South Africa, Jame’s regiment became part of No 1 Company, 4th Division of the Mounted Infantry. Within a year of arrival in South Africa, Henry had been involved in the action which led to the award of the Victoria Cross, as recorded in the London Gazette, 4th January 1901. On the 21st August 1900, during the operations near Van Wyk’s Vlei, Corporal Knight and four Mounted Infantry men were guarding a detachment of troops. The enemy, about 50 strong, attacked and almost surrounded, at short range, Corporal Knight’s small party. He held his ground, directing his party to retire one by one to better cover, where he maintained his position for nearly an hour, covering the withdrawal of Captain Ewart’s force, and losing two of his four men. He then retired, bringing with him two wounded men. One of these he left in a place of safety, the other he carried himself for nearly two miles. James was invested with his medal on 8th June 1902 in Pretoria by the Commander-in-Chief, South Africa, Lord Kitchener.