James Firth

Saving wounded men, he was shot through the nose and one eye

James Firth was born at Upper Wincobank, Sheffield, on 15 January 1874. His father was a steel smelter, and his schooling took place at Swalwell near Newcastle. He enlisted in 1889 and eventually became a sergeant in the Duke of Wellington's West Riding Regiment. He married Mary Florence Edwards in Sheffield in June 1897.

During the Second Boer War he served with the 1st Battalion in the Cape Colony. On 24 February 1900, at Plewman's Farm near Arundel, Lance Corporal Blackman was wounded and left in exposed ground. Enemy riflemen were firing from several hundred yards away. Firth went out, picked him up and brought him into cover.

Later in the same action, Second Lieutenant Wilson fell dangerously wounded near the firing line as the Boers pressed closer. Firth again went to the casualty. He lifted Wilson and carried him over the crest of the ridge to shelter. During this second rescue Firth himself was struck through the nose and eye.

The Victoria Cross recognised both rescues and the repeated personal danger he accepted for wounded comrades. King Edward VII presented the decoration at St James's Palace on 25 July 1901. His Queen's South Africa Medal recorded the campaign in which the rescues took place.

Firth survived his wounds and returned to civilian life in Sheffield with his family. He died from tuberculosis on 29 May 1921, aged 47, and was buried in Burngreave Cemetery. His name was recorded on the family memorial, and his Victoria Cross later entered the Ashcroft collection.

Official Victoria Cross citation

During the action at Plewman’s Farm, near Arundel, Cape Colony, on the 24th February, 1900, Lance-Corporal Blackman having been wounded and lying exposed to a hot fire at a range of from four to five hundred yards, Sergeant Firth picked him up and carried him to cover. Later in the day, when the enemy had advanced to within a short distance of the firing line, Second Lieutenant Wilson being dangerously wounded and in a most exposed position Sergeant Firth carried him over the crest of the ridge, which was being held by the troops, to shelter, and was himself shot through the nose and eye whilst doing so.

The London Gazette of 11 June 1901, Numb. 27322, p. 3933