Alfred Joseph Knight | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 24 August 1888 Birmingham,West Midlands, England |
| Died | 4 December 1960 (aged 72) Birmingham, West Midlands, England |
| Buried | Oscott College Road Cemetery,Sutton Coldfield |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  British Army |
| Years of service | 1914−1919 |
| Rank | Second Lieutenant |
| Service number | 370995 |
| Unit | London Regiment Sherwood Foresters |
| Battles / wars | World War I |
| Awards |  Victoria CrossOrder of the British Empire |
Second LieutenantAlfred Joseph Knight,VC, MBE (24 August 1888 − 4 December 1960) was aBritish Army officer and anEnglish recipient of theVictoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded toBritish andCommonwealth forces. He was the onlyPost Office Rifleman ever to receive this award.
Born at Ladywood inBirmingham on 24 August 1888, he attendedSt. Philip's School (more correctly St Philip's Grammar School), Edgbaston. He married Mabel Saunderson in May 1915.He joined the Post Office and worked as a Clerical Assistant in the North Midland Engineering District.[1]
Knight was 29 years old, and asergeant in the 2/8th (City of London) Battalion,The London Regiment (Post Office Rifles),British Army during theFirst World War when the action took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 20 September 1917 at Alberta Section,Ypres,Belgium, when his platoon came under very heavy fire from an enemy machine-gun, Sergeant Knight rushed through his unit's own barrage and captured the emplacement single-handed. He performed several other acts of conspicuous bravery single-handed, all under heavy machine-gun and rifle fire and without regard to personal safety. All the platoon officers of the company had become casualties before the first objective was reached, and this NCO took command not only of all the men of his own platoon but of the platoons without officers and his energy in consolidating and reorganising was untiring.[2]
He later achieved the rank ofsecond lieutenant.
After the war he was transferred to the Ministry of Labour and was Manager of the Employment Exchange at[1]When he retired in 1951 he was Senior Wages Inspector in the Midlands section of the Ministry of Labour. He was appointed a Member of theOrder of the British Empire in 1951.[1] Alfred Knight was a member of the Catholic organisationThe Catenian Association holding a number of senior offices.
In 2005, Birmingham City Council named a street in his honour on the Park Central development in Ladywood, where Alfred Knight grew up.
In 2017, Royal Mail dedicated a postbox in honour of Knight. The postbox is located at the corner of Islington Row Middleway and Tennant Street, Birmingham, B15 1LA, on the street where Alfred lived when he worked for the GPO (although the same press release states that he was working as a clerk in Nottingham when he enlisted in the 2/8th Battalion of the Post Office Rifles.).[3]
Alfred Knight died at home at the age of 72. He is buried in Oscott Catholic Cemetery, New Oscott, Birmingham.
His medal is held by theBritish Postal Museum & Archive.[4]