James Meldrum Knox

Lieutenant-Colonel James Meldrum Knox, was a British Army officer of the First [World War]. He commanded the 1st/7th Battalion of the Royal [Warwickshire Regiment] from 1915 until his death in 1918 on the Italian Front, during the Battle of Asiago.

Family background

James Meldrum Knox was born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, in 1878, the son of James and Florence Knox. The family were prominent in civil and railway engineering and had become affluent through their majority shareholding in the Haunchwood Brick and Tile Company. James was the first of nine sons who all fought in the First World War. One brother, Cecil, served with the Royal Engineers and was awarded the Victoria Cross while a second, Thomas, gained the Military Cross and Bar.

Military career

Knox was educated at Bedford Modern School. He worked as an engineer at Bristol Docks and was commissioned in the Nuneaton Volunteer Company of the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in 1899. The unit later became the 7th Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in 1908. The territorial battalion formed part of the 143rd Brigade, 48th (South Midland) Division. Knox commanded the battalion from 1915 on the Western Front, notably at the Battle of the Somme and the Third Battle of Ypres.
Knox was awarded the Distinguished Service Order on 1 January 1917. A Bar to the award was gazetted after his death; the citation in the supplement to the London Gazette of 24 September reads:
Knox was also mentioned in despatches on five occasions.

Death and memorials

In November 1917, the brigade was transferred to the Italian campaign and saw action at the Montello Front and on the Asiago Plateau. Knox was killed on 23 September 1918. A private in the battalion recorded the news:
Knox is buried at the Granezza British Cemetery near Vicenza, and there is a memorial to him there. He and his brothers who fought in the war are also commemorated by a memorial at Oaston Road Cemetery, Nuneaton. After his death, Knox's parents commissioned his portrait by the Birmingham artist Edward Samuel Harper. The painting hangs in the Nuneaton Museum and Art Gallery.