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<title>Alfred Atkinson</title>
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<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfred Atkinson</span></span>
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</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">For the Canadian American agronomist, see <a href="Alfred_Atkinson_(university_president)" title="Alfred Atkinson (university president)">Alfred Atkinson (university president)</a>.</div>
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</style><table class="infobox vcard" style="width:25.5em;border-spacing:2px;"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above" style="font-size:125%; background-color:#C3D6EF;color:inherit;"><div style="display:inline-block" class="fn">Alfred Atkinson</div><br><div class="honorific-suffix" style="font-size: 77%; font-weight: normal;display:inline-block;"><a href="Victoria_Cross" title="Victoria Cross">VC</a></div></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image" style="border-bottom: 1px solid #aaa;; line-height: 1.5em"><span typeof="mw:File"></span><div class="infobox-caption" style="font-size: 100%">Atkinson as depicted on a <a href="Cigarette_card" title="Cigarette card">cigarette card</a></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em">Born</th><td class="infobox-data"><span style="display:none">(<span class="bday">1874-02-06</span>)</span>6 February 1874<br>Leeds, <a href="West_Yorkshire" title="West Yorkshire">West Yorkshire</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em">Died</th><td class="infobox-data">21 February 1900<span style="display:none">(1900-02-21)</span> (aged 26)<br><a href="Paardeberg" class="mw-redirect" title="Paardeberg">Paardeberg</a>, <a href="South_African_Republic" title="South African Republic">Transvaal</a> <a href="Killed_in_action" title="Killed in action"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman','Old English Text MT',serif"><b>†</b></span></a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em">Buried</th><td class="infobox-data"><div style="display:inline" class="label">Gruisbank British Cemetery, Paardeberg</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em">Allegiance</th><td class="infobox-data"><span class="flagicon"><span class="mw-image-border" typeof="mw:File"><span></span></span> </span><a href="United_Kingdom" title="United Kingdom">United Kingdom</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em">Branch</th><td class="infobox-data"><span typeof="mw:File"></span> <a href="British_Army" title="British Army">British Army</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em">Rank</th><td class="infobox-data">Sergeant</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em">Unit</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Green_Howards" title="Green Howards">The Princess of Wales’s Own (Yorkshire Regiment)</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em">Battles / wars</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Second_Boer_War" title="Second Boer War">Second Boer War</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em">Awards</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Victoria_Cross" title="Victoria Cross">Victoria Cross</a></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p><b>Alfred Atkinson</b> (6 February 1874 – 21 February 1900) was an English recipient of the <a href="Victoria_Cross" title="Victoria Cross">Victoria Cross</a>, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and <a href="Commonwealth_of_Nations" title="Commonwealth of Nations">Commonwealth</a> forces.
</p><p>Alfred was born in Armley in Leeds and was the son of James Harland Atkinson (born ~1830 at Kirkby Malzeard, Yorkshire) and Margaret Mansfield (born ~1833 at Leeds, Yorkshire)<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> who were married in Leeds on 4 June 1855. James Harland Atkinson was a Shoeing Smith in the Royal Artillery.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>He was 26 years old, and a <a href="Sergeant" title="Sergeant">sergeant</a> in the 1st Battalion, <a href="Green_Howards" title="Green Howards">The Princess of Wales's Own (Yorkshire Regiment)</a>, <a href="British_Army" title="British Army">British Army</a> during the <a href="Second_Boer_War" title="Second Boer War">Second Boer War</a> when the following deed took place on 18 February 1900 during the <a href="Battle_of_Paardeberg" title="Battle of Paardeberg">Battle of Paardeberg</a>, South Africa for which he was (posthumously) awarded the VC:
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</style><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>No. 3264 Sergeant A. Atkinson, Yorkshire Regiment.
</p><p>During the battle of Paardeburg, 18th February, 1900, Sergeant A. Atkinson, 1st Battalion Yorkshire Regiment, went out seven-times,
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under heavy and close fire, to obtain water for the wounded. At the seventh attempt he was wounded in the head, and died a few days afterwards.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-VC-1902_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-VC-1902-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>a<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></p></blockquote>
<p>His Victoria Cross is displayed at the <a href="Green_Howards" title="Green Howards">Green Howards</a> Museum, <a href="Richmond%2C_Yorkshire" class="mw-redirect" title="Richmond, Yorkshire">Richmond, Yorkshire</a>, England.
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>
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<li id="cite_note-VC-1902-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-VC-1902_4-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">On 8 August 1902, as a result of a revision in the policy in the war office which allowed posthumous awards of the Victoria Cross, Sergeant Atkinson along with other men who had fallen during the recent war in South Africa, in the performance of acts of valour which would in the opinion of the Commander in Chief have entitled them to a Victoria Cross had they survived.</span>
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<li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">1881 England census</span>
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<li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">James Harland Atkinson marriage certificate</span>
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<li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">
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</style><cite id="CITEREFGazette27462" class="citation magazine cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/27462/page/5086">"No. 27462"</a>. <i><a href="The_London_Gazette" title="The London Gazette">The London Gazette</a></i>. 8 August 1902. p. 5086.</cite></span>
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Further_reading">Further reading</h2></div>
<ul><li><a href="Monuments_to_Courage" class="mw-redirect" title="Monuments to Courage">Monuments to Courage</a> (David Harvey, 1999)</li>
<li><a href="The_Register_of_the_Victoria_Cross" title="The Register of the Victoria Cross">The Register of the Victoria Cross</a> (This England, 1997)</li>
<li><a href="Victoria_Crosses_of_the_Anglo-Boer_War" class="mw-redirect" title="Victoria Crosses of the Anglo-Boer War">Victoria Crosses of the Anglo-Boer War</a> (Ian Uys, 2000)</li></ul>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2></div>
<ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20041204212740/http://www.victoriacross.org.uk/ggsafric.htm">Burial location of Alfred Atkinson</a> "Transvaal, South Africa"</li>
<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.victoriacross.org.uk/ccgrhow.htm">Location of Alfred Atkinson's Victoria Cross</a> "Green Howards Museum, Richmond"</li>
<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8543823">Alfred Atkinson</a> at <a href="Find_a_Grave" title="Find a Grave">Find a Grave</a></li>
<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150223065443/http://greenhowards.org.uk/about-us/green-howards-regiment/evolution-of-a-name/">Various official names of the Regiment</a> Evolution of a Name</li></ul></div><!--htdig_noindex--><div><div class="zim-footer">
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