Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

British War Medal 1914-20 (24591 Pte. J. Knight. Essex R.) toned, nearly extremely fine £180-£220

James Arthur Knight, 1st Battalion Essex Regiment (No. 5999062, formerly Nos. 24591 and 48040) was captured and killed by the I.R.A. on 23 February 1921, as an act of reprisal against men of the Essex Regiment in the town of Bandon in County Cork.

A group of Royal Irish Constabulary men leaving the cinema in Bandon were attacked by members of the Flying Column of the West Cork Brigade under Tom Barry who had entered the town shortly after 8 p.m. on 23 February 1921. Other members of the Flying Column went into the suburbs of Bandon and kidnapped two Essex Regiment soldiers and two ‘wireless Naval men’ whom they found walking there. They killed the two soldiers - Private Knight and Lance-Corporal Stubbs - but released the two Navy men.

The I.R.A. men in Bandon gave a note on this occasion to a captured Royal Navy wireless operator whom they released, instructing him to deliver it to Major Percival, the British commanding officer in Bandon, which reportedly stated: ‘Recently, several members of our Army have been brutally murdered by British forces, in particular by members of the Essex Regiment, and we take this opportunity of showing how to deal, and shall continue to deal, with such murderers. We hope this will be a warning in future. I.R.A.’

James Knight had served during the war in France from 1916 with the 1st Battalion Essex Regiment (No. 24591) and re-enlisted at Clary, France, on 9 March 1919. He was the son of Alfred Knight, of Station Road, Dagenham, Essex and is buried in the Churchyard of St Peter and St Paul, Dagenham.