Twenty-four years of service with the King�s Liverpool Regiment the Manchester Regiment, the Royal Fusiliers and the London Scottish
An edited extract from an article by Robert Bonner in the October 2009 edition of
the Journal of the Victoria Cross Society
Corporal James Huntley Knight of the King�s Liverpool Regiment (sometimes known as Henry James Knight) was awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery in South Africa on 21 August 1900 and was discharged from the regiment in May 1912. Following the declaration of war in 1914 Knight re-enlisted in the 17th Royal Fusiliers on 25th August. The newly raised battalion made the most of their new acquisition and Knight was rapidly appointed Regimental Sergeant Major. On 12th September the battalion paraded for the first time and entrained for Warlingham in Surrey. There was apparently a shortage of tents 'but under the direction of Regimental Sergeant Major Knight VC more tents were put up'.
Five months later he was commissioned as a Temporary Lieutenant in the Manchester Regiment with effect from 18th January 1915. He joined the 20th Battalion � formed on 7th November 1914 as the 5th City or �Pals� Battalion of The Manchester Regiment. Recruiting had begun on the 17th and was completed with an excess of 200 men on the following day. Initially the battalion had been based in Belle Vue but the battalion moved to Morecambe on 30th December.
Discipline was difficult to impose as the men were billeted over a considerable area, well fed and looked after by adoring landladies. The arrival of an experienced soldier such as Knight must have been a considerable help to the commanding officer. Knight was promoted Temporary Captain on 5th March 1915 and put in command of 'A' Company and later 'D' Company.
James Knight, with his extensive military experience, was probably enjoying these few months in training the young men. But this was shortly to come to an end. In early 1915 there were reports of a scandal involving contracts to civilians for work and services at the recently built Warlingham camp of the Royal Fusiliers, involving illegal payments. Apparently the order having been placed for building huts and other work, one of two committee members acting on behalf of himself and the other, went to the contractor and demanded a share of his profits. After some considerable reluctance the contractor agreed to concede one-third. The contract was performed during the month of September 1914 and from time to time the contractor made payments to one of these men, who received them on behalf of himself and the other man, amounting altogether to �285.
Captain Knight of the 20th Manchesters, having earlier held a responsible position in the battalion, was called to give evidence at a Military Court of Enquiry regarding the civilian contractors but only in the manner in which they did their work. In his evidence he made the point that food was never insufficient, but it was badly cooked as the authorities had appointed a master-cook who did not know his work and might as well have been a bricklayer. He also stated that inspecting officers never went to the huts when they were leaking and that the men had been seen floating paper boats in the water inside their huts.
His evidence was undoubtedly true although tinged with sarcasm, and was not accepted by the Court of Enquiry. Captain Knight then withdrew his remarks. In December 1915 it was announced that there were to be no charges. All this must have had a profound effect on Knight and on 10th October 1915 he relinquished his commission - no reason being made public.
On 9th January 1916 after re-enlisting once again, he embarked with the 1/14th Battalion London Scottish for France and the Western Front. Two months later he was appointed Lance Corporal and promoted Corporal on 28th March, a rank which he had last held some twenty-seven years earlier. He was wounded in his left leg on 22nd June 1916 at Gommecourt in the Somme. Repatriated to England on 27th June and medically discharged from the army on 15th March 1917 as �Ceasing to fulfil Army Physical Requirements�. So ended twenty-four years of virtually unbroken service to Queen, King and Country. Henry James Knight died on 24th November 1955, age 76 years, at the home of his daughter in Anderson near Blandford Forum.
