Medal of hero killed in last week of WW1 auctioned

A Victoria Cross awarded to a soldier who was killed while defending comrades in the last week of World War One is being put up for auction.

James Kirk, from Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester, died under heavy machine gun fire as he protected soldiers building a bridge in France in November 1918.

The 21-year-old second lieutenant carried on fighting even after being shot in the face, having paddled across a canal to single-handedly confront German gunners.

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

Noonans said Kirk "paid the ultimate sacrifice" as he sought to defend the Royal Engineers who were 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 himself across the waterway on a raft made from petrol tins and cork floats "under a most intense machine gun barrage", Noonans said.

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."

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

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

About 17 million soldiers and civilians were killed during WW1.

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