229363 Pte. Joseph Kirkham MMBritish Army 8 Bn TC 5 Tank Bde Tank Corps from:Runcorn, Cheshire Private Joseph Kirkham was my grandfather and throughout my life I was aware of a large picture frame hanging in his home. It contained a small piece of paper with the following text "I have read with great pleasure the report of your Commanding Officer on your energy and good work against the enemy near Morcourt on 8th August 1918. This reflects credit on yourself and the whole Tank Corps".
Granddad died in 1958 when I was still in primary school and never spoke of his experiences in the war.
When grandma downsized in the late 1970s she asked if I would like to have this and of course I accepted and I always wondered what Graddad had done that merited such praise. In those days, before the internet, and being a busy working mum I didn't know where to go to find anything out about it.
A couple of years ago a friend suggested contacting the Tank Museum at Bovington and to my surprise they passed on the citation report from the commanding officer himself.
The citation reads "For devotion to duty during the operation of 8 August 1918 against MORCOURT. Private Kirkham rendered invaluable assistance when his tank was ditched. By his energy in assisting to dig out the tank, when the unditching gear was ineffective, it was able to proceed with the action. Later he kept his guns continuously working and was greatly responsible for demoralising the enemy.
Throughout he displayed courage and spared himself in no way".
It is signed by LtCol J Bingham, cmdg 8 Bn TC and with a recommendation for an immediate award of the MM.
It goes without saying that granddad was a hero to me even before my discovery but my task now is to find out more about his military history and to see if he ever collected his award, which I suspect he didn't.
|