John Cunningham (VC 1916)

Born on 28 June 1897 in a caravan at Swains Yard off Manley Street in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, John "Jack" Cunningham was the eldest son of Charles Cunningham, a travelling licensed pot hawker, and his wife Mary Ann. His family background as Romany Gypsies involved a mobile lifestyle across Lincolnshire and Yorkshire before establishing a base in Hull, where he attended St James' Day School and Chiltern Street School. Prior to the First World War, he worked alongside his father as a hardware hawker.

Enlisting on 14 September 1914 at seventeen years of age, he joined the 3rd Hull Battalion—officially designated the 12th (Service) Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment, and known locally as the "Hull Sportsmen". Initial military training took place at South Dalton near Beverley before the battalion embarked for overseas service in December 1915 to join British forces guarding the Suez Canal in Egypt. The unit remained in Egypt until March 1916, when it redeployed to the Western Front in France as part of the 31st Division.

The central event of his military career occurred on 13 November 1916, during the opening attack of the Battle of the Ancre, the final offensive stage of the Battle of the Somme. Assigned to capture enemy positions near Hébuterne, his unit encountered heavy fire and stubborn opposition in the German trench network.

"On 13 November 1916, the opening day of the Battle of the Ancre (the final offensive of the Battle of the Somme), attacking from opposite Hebuterne the 31st Division was to seize the German trenches and form a defensive flank north of Serre. After the enemy's front line had been captured, Private Cunningham went with a bombing section up a communication trench where much opposition was met and all the rest of the section were either killed or wounded. Collecting all the bombs from the casualties Private Cunningham went on alone and when he had used up all the bombs he had he returned for a fresh supply and again went up the communication trench where he met a party of 10 Germans. He killed all 10 and cleared the trench up to the new line."

Official gazetting of the Victoria Cross took place on 13 January 1917. King George V invested him with the award at Hyde Park on 2 June 1917. Upon returning to Hull on leave, he was met at Paragon Station in the early hours of the morning by waiting crowds and a brass band, who carried him shoulder-high through decorated streets to his family home. During this period of leave in June 1917, he married Eva Harrison at Hull Registry Office.

Rejoining his unit on the Western Front, he was transferred to the 10th Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment, in February 1918. His combat career concluded on 13 April 1918, when he sustained severe gunshot wounds to both legs and his chest. Invalided back to Britain, he was discharged from active service on 26 June 1918, receiving the Silver War Badge and a weekly disability pension.

Post-war civilian life brought significant physical, domestic, and legal difficulties. Returning to hawking hardware in Hull, permanent lung damage and leg injuries hindered his adjustment to postwar conditions. Domestic disputes, public brawls, and non-payment of maintenance led to repeated appearances before Hull magistrates during the 1920s. He died at his home in Kingston upon Hull on 21 February 1941 at forty-three years of age and was buried in Western Cemetery, Hull. His Victoria Cross is held by the York Army Museum.