James Henry Finn (sometimes Fynn) VC (24 November 1893 – 30 March 1917) was a recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to

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and

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forces. He was also awarded the Order of Karageorge, which is Serbia's equivalent to the Victoria Cross.

Early life

Finn was born in St Clement near

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. His father, John Finn, served in the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry in the Boer War, and again in the Special Reserve during the First World War. James Finn served as a territorial soldier with the 5th Battalion, DCLI before moving to the South Wales Valleys looking for work. He eventually found employment at the colliery at Cwmtillery near

Abertillery Abertillery (; cy, Abertyleri) is a town and a community of the Ebbw Fach valley in the historic county of Monmouthshire, Wales. Following local government reorganisation it became part of the Blaenau Gwent County Borough administrative area. ...

Military service

On the outbreak of war, he immediately enlisted with the local regiment, the

South Wales Borderers The South Wales Borderers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for 280 years. It came into existence in England in 1689, as Sir Edward Dering's Regiment of Foot, and afterwards had a variety of names and headquarters. In ...

and was duly posted to their 4th (Service)

Battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

. On enlistment, his surname was incorrectly recorded as "Fynn". James_Fynn_portrait_B&W

On 15 July 1915, the battalion landed at Gallipoli. Fynn was wounded in the knee and chest, and invalided back to Britain. After the withdrawal from Gallipoli, the battalion had moved to Mesopotamia, and Fynn rejoined them there. He acted as orderly to the commanding officer, Lt. Col. C. E. Kitchen. It was on 9 April 1916 at Sanna-i-Yat,

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

(now

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

), that 22-year-old Private Fynn earned the Victoria Cross for his bravery. Fynn was decorated with the ribbon of the VC by Lt Gen Sir Stanley Maude at Amara on 5 November 1916. On 29 March 1917 he was wounded in the leg in an engagement at Marl Plain, 50 miles north of Baghdad. He was taken by stretcher to the field ambulance the next day, but on the way he was struck in the side by another bullet, which proved fatal. The VC was presented to his father at a public investiture in Hyde Park on 2 June 1917 by King George V. Fynn was also mentioned in dispatches (London Gazette, 19 October 1916). He was awarded the Serbian Cross of the Karageorge (1st Class) with swords (London Gazette, 15 February 1917).Finn, James Henry
Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Legacy

His memorial at

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...

can be found at panel numbers 16 and 32 on the Basra Memorial which was originally sited within

Basra War Cemetery The Basra War Cemetery was a military cemetery in Basra, Iraq, built for soldiers killed during the Mesopotamian campaign in the First World War. It was maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission until 2007. There is a painting of the action which was published in ''The Sphere'', ''Tatler'', and also ''The Times Illustrated History of the Great War''. The original artwork was by Ugo Matania and is held at the

Wellcome Library The Wellcome Library is founded on the collection formed by Sir Henry Wellcome (1853–1936), whose personal wealth allowed him to create one of the most ambitious collections of the 20th century. Henry Wellcome's interest was the history of med ...

, London.

References

External links

Victoria Cross details
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fynn, James South Wales Borderers soldiers British Army personnel of World War I British World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross British military personnel killed in World War I 1893 births 1917 deaths People from Truro People from Bodmin Burials at Basra War Cemetery