James Emerson | |
Birth Date: | 3 August 1895 |
Death Date: | 6 December 1917 (aged 22) |
Birth Place: | Collon, County Louth, Ireland |
Serviceyears: | – 1917 |
Rank: | Second Lieutenant |
Branch: | British Army |
Unit: | The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers |
Battles: | World War I |
Awards: | Victoria Cross |
James Samuel Emerson VC (3 August 1895 - 6 December 1917) was a British Army officer, and posthumous 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.
Emerson was born 3 August 1895 in the village of Collon, County Louth in what is now the Republic of Ireland, to John and Ellen Emerson.[1] When he was 22 years old, and a temporary second lieutenant in the 9th Battalion, The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (Tyrone Volunteers), British Army during the First World War, and was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions on 6 December 1917, on the Hindenburg Line north of La Vacquerie, France. He died in action that same day.
His name is inscribed on the war memorial at the Church of Ireland parish church at Collon, County Louth and on the Cambrai Memorial to the Missing.
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