Medal of hero killed in last week of WW1 auctioned

Medal of hero killed in last week of WW1 auctioned

Second lieutenant James Kirk was killed in the last week of World War One

A Victoria Cross given to a soldier who died while protecting comrades in the final week of World War One is going under the hammer.

James Kirk, from Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester, was killed by heavy machine gun fire as he shielded soldiers constructing a bridge in France in November 1918.

The 21-year-old second lieutenant kept fighting even after he was shot in the face, after paddling across a canal to confront German gunners on his own.

His medal will be sold by London auctioneers Noonans on 7 October and is expected to make between £100,000 and £160,000.

Noonans said Kirk "paid the ultimate sacrifice" as he tried to defend the Royal Engineers who were trying to bridge the Oise Canal during the Battle of Sambre on 4 November 1918.

Kirk took a Lewis machine gun and four magazines and paddled across the waterway on a raft made from petrol tins and cork floats "under a most intense machine gun barrage", Noonans said.

James Kirk was awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery

The auctioneers added: "The bank bristled with machine guns.

"He set up his Lewis gun at 10 yards range and fired off the whole of his ammunition.

"Further ammunition was paddled across to him on the raft and he continued firing, covering the Royal Engineers in their task.

"He was wounded in the arm and the face but still fired continuously from a most exposed position until he was shot through the head and fell dead over his gun."

Huge crowds gathered in London to celebrate the end of the war on Armistice Day on 11 November 1918

Kirk's Victoria Cross, which was awarded posthumously, is being sold together with his three other war service medals.

He was killed in the same action as celebrated war poet Wilfred Owen

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17 million soldiers and civilians were killed during WW1

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