217249 Pte. James Albert Edward Knight British Army 21st (First Surrey Rifles) Btn. London Regiment from:Greenwich Prior to the war James Knight was a bare knuckle prizefighter (the grandson of Tom Sayers the famous pugilist). He must have been pretty fit and a true survivor and probably a bit of a loner as I sense he was not a fan of discipline or being told what to do.
He joined the 1st Surrey Rifles by accident I think, as a group of them went up together to join up and some went into the 1st and others were taken into a different part of the The 21st London Regiment, it may have been The Greenwich Rifles. He recalled it as a real setback as later he was to say that when he led young fresh troops up to the front he didn’t really care, but if he heard that “One of the old boys" had been killed it would demoralise him for days.
He decided to become a messenger as he was sick of being in mud and water for days on end. He delivered dispatches on foot as he couldn’t ride a motorbike. Messengers did not have a very long lifespan, but they were treated well, and given food and or dry clothes when they delivered a message.
Back to the motorbike. One day a shell fell and injured a dispatch rider, the bike fell to the side but was still ticking over, Pte. Knight and a couple of the others had never driven anything mechanical before so they drew straws as to who would try and take the message, James drew the short straw, asked the rider how to make it work then hopped on, rode off and finally reached his destination, unfortunately he hadn’t been told how to stop and the inevitable happened and he just jumped off letting the bike collide into a trench much to the disgust of the waiting small crowd of soldiers at the end.
We heard a few other stories. He told me about the first time he saw a Tank which in those days were top secret and in hindsight I could still see how impressed he was by the vision of these mechanical monoliths crawling over the ground.
James Knight was a tiny thin, austere looking man (about 5’4) but always had a presence about him. I am glad to say our Grandfather was one of the “few†who survived the war and was awarded The Pip, Squeak and Wilfred medals, The 1914 – 1915 Star, British War Medal, and The Victory Medal. My uncle told me he was also awarded a Croix De Guerre but this I can't confirm as many War records for Privates were lost during the second world war bombing of London. In 1915 he was injured by a mortar and sent home due to his injuries.
After the war he led a very ordinary life as a driver of horse-drawn carriages, his eyesight deteriorated quite prematurely at the age of around 40 probably due to all the nerve damage he sustained during his boxing matches.
He died peacefully in Greenwich Hospital in London at the age of 83 near his little flat and about 100 meters from where he went to school.
I think his War experience was the only time he had ever spent abroad. Shortly after the war he was invited by the French but he said “I couldn’t be bothered†which about sums the man up. He died with pieces of shrapnel still in his hip I was told.
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