Alfred Joseph Knight

Alfred Joseph Knight was a Birmingham postal clerk whose extraordinary courage on the Western Front made him the only member of the Post Office Rifles to receive the Victoria Cross. He was born on 24 August 1888 at 12 Clifton Terrace, Friston Street, Ladywood, Birmingham, the son of Joseph Knight and Annie Maria Knight, née Rowbottom. His father worked successively in the lamp and glass trades before becoming a confectioner. Alfred was educated at St Philip's Grammar School in Edgbaston and in 1909 entered the General Post Office as a clerical assistant in Birmingham. When the Post Office Engineering Department moved to Nottingham in 1912, he transferred there. On 8 May 1915 he married Mabel Saunderson at the Oratory on Hagley Road, Edgbaston. victoriacrossonline.co.uk Following the outbreak of the First World War, Knight enlisted on 26 October 1914 in the 2/8th (City of London) Battalion, The London Regiment, known as the Post Office Rifles. The battalion initially served as a second-line formation supplying reinforcements to the 1/8th Battalion before developing into an active-service unit in its own right. It moved to Sutton Veny, Wiltshire, in July 1916 as part of the 58th (2/1st London) Division, and Knight went to France with the battalion on 4 February 1917. Following the Territorial Force renumbering of 1917, he was recorded as service number 370995, the number under which his Victoria Cross was subsequently gazetted. The VC and GC Association Knight first distinguished himself during the Second Battle of Bullecourt. On 14 May 1917, while serving as a Lance Sergeant, he brought wounded men in under heavy enemy fire. He received a Divisional Commander's Certificate for Gallant Conduct and was promoted to Sergeant soon afterwards. The VC and GC Association His defining action came on 20 September 1917 during the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge, part of the Third Battle of Ypres. The 2/8th Post Office Rifles advanced in the area of Hubner Farm near Keerselare against strongly defended German positions. When his platoon was halted by machine-gun fire, Sergeant Knight rushed forward through the British barrage, bayoneted the enemy gunner and captured the position single-handed. He later attacked twelve enemy soldiers occupying a shell-hole with a machine gun, bayoneting two, shooting a third and causing the remainder to scatter. During the attack on a fortified farm he became trapped waist-deep in mud, but immediately opened fire on German troops engaging the British advance, killing six of them. When he saw the company on his right being held up by another fortified position, he collected several men, moved against its flank and brought sufficient fire to bear to assist in its capture. The Gazette All the platoon officers of Knight's company had become casualties before the first objective was reached. He therefore assumed command not only of his own platoon but also of men from platoons left without officers, directing their reorganisation and the consolidation of the captured ground. His repeated individual attacks and his leadership were recognized by the award of the Victoria Cross, announced in the London Gazette on 8 November 1917. The Gazette identified him as No. 370995 Sergeant Alfred Joseph Knight, London Regiment. The Gazette The official Victoria Cross citation reads: "For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty during the operations against the enemy positions. Sjt. Knight did extraordinary good work, and showed exceptional bravery and initiative when his platoon was attacking an enemy strong point, and came under very heavy fire from an enemy machine gun. He rushed through our own barrage, bayonetted the enemy gunner, and captured the position single-handed. Later, twelve of the enemy with a machine gun, were encountered in a shell-hole. He again rushed forward by himself, bayonetted two and shot a third and caused the remainder to scatter. Subsequently, during the attack on a fortified farm, when entangled up to his waist in mud, and seeing a number of the enemy firing on our troops, he immediately opened fire on them without waiting to extricate himself from the mud, killing six of the enemy. Again, noticing the company on his right flank being held up in their attack on another farm, Sjt. Knight collected some men and took up a position on the flank of this farm, from where he brought a heavy fire to bear on the farm as a result of which the farm was captured. All the platoon officers of the company had become casualties before the first objective was reached, and this gallant N.C.O. took command of all the men of his own platoon and of the platoons without officers. His energy in consolidating and reorganising was untiring. His several single-handed actions showed exceptional bravery, and saved a great number of casualties in the company. They were performed under heavy machine gun and rifle fire, and without regard to personal risk, and were the direct cause of the objectives being captured."

King George V presented Knight with the Victoria Cross at Buckingham Palace on 2 January 1918. Both the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association and the detailed Victoria Cross Online biography record 2 January, resolving the conflicting 3 January date found in some secondary accounts. Knight subsequently served as a training instructor in France. On 17 March 1919 he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Sherwood Foresters, and he relinquished his commission on 1 September 1921. The VC and GC Association After the war Knight resumed his civilian career with the Post Office, transferring in 1920 to the Ministry of Labour. From 1931 to 1937 he managed the York Employment Exchange and later worked in the Trade Board Section at Leeds. He returned to Birmingham in 1941 as Senior Wages Inspector in the Ministry of Labour. In 1945 he travelled to India to speak to servicemen about post-war resettlement arrangements. victoriacrossonline.co.uk In the 1951 honours he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, Civil Division, for his work with the Ministry of Labour and National Service. The London Gazette lists Alfred Joseph Knight, VC, as Senior Wages Inspector, Ministry of Labour and National Service, while The Postal Museum specifically records his MBE as a civil award. He retired from the Ministry in November 1951. Fbcoverup Knight died at his home in Elvetham Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, on 4 December 1960, aged 72, and was buried in Oscott Catholic Cemetery, Sutton Coldfield. His complete known medal group consists of the Victoria Cross, Member of the Order of the British Empire (Civil Division), British War Medal 1914–1920, Victory Medal 1914–1919, King George VI Coronation Medal 1937 and Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal 1953. The group is held by The Postal Museum in London. British Postal Museum & Archive