James Pitts | |
Birth Date: | 26 February 1877 |
Death Date: | 18 February 1955 (aged 77) |
Birth Place: | Blackburn, Lancashire |
Death Place: | Blackburn |
Placeofburial: | Blackburn Cemetery, Blackburn |
Rank: | Corporal |
Branch: | British Army |
Unit: | The Manchester Regiment |
Battles: | Second Boer War |
Awards: | Victoria Cross Meritorious Service Medal |
James Pitts VC MSM (26 February 1877 - 18 February 1955) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Pitts was 22 years old, and a private in the 1st Battalion, The Manchester Regiment, British Army during the Second Boer War when the following deed in Natal took place for which he and Private Robert Scott were awarded the VC: He later achieved the rank of corporal and served in World War I[1] He was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in 1918.
His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Museum of the Manchesters, Ashton-under-Lyne, England.
In 2019, a plaque in his honour was unveiled at Blackburn town hall.[2]