{{short description|Recipient of the Victoria Cross}} {{for|the Canadian American agronomist|Alfred Atkinson (university president)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Use British English|date=October 2014}} {{Infobox military person |name= Alfred Atkinson |honorific_suffix=VC |birth_date={{birth date|df=y|1874|2|6}} |death_date={{death date and age|df=y|1900|2|21|1874|2|6}} |birth_place= Leeds, West Yorkshire |death_place=Paardeberg, Transvaal{{KIA}} |burial_place=Gruisbank British Cemetery, Paardeberg |image=VCAlfredAtkinson.jpg |image_size=175 |caption=Atkinson as depicted on a cigarette card |nickname= |allegiance= {{UK}} |service_years= |rank=Sergeant |branch=23px British Army |commands= |unit=The Princess of Wales’s Own (Yorkshire Regiment) |battles=Second Boer War |awards= Victoria Cross |other_work= }} '''Alfred Atkinson''' (6 February 1874 – 21 February 1900) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
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)<ref>1881 England census</ref> who were married in Leeds on 4 June 1855. James Harland Atkinson was a Shoeing Smith in the Royal Artillery.<ref>James Harland Atkinson marriage certificate</ref>
He was 26 years old, and a sergeant in the 1st Battalion, The Princess of Wales's Own (Yorkshire Regiment), British Army during the Second Boer War when the following deed took place on 18 February 1900 during the Battle of Paardeberg, South Africa for which he was (posthumously) awarded the VC: {{blockquote|No. 3264 Sergeant A. Atkinson, Yorkshire Regiment.
During the battle of Paardeburg, 18th February, 1900, Sergeant A. Atkinson, 1st Battalion Yorkshire Regiment, went out seven-times, 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.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27462|page=5086|date=8 August 1902}}</ref>{{efn|name=VC-1902}}}}
His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Green Howards Museum, Richmond, Yorkshire, England.
==References== {{notelist|refs= {{efn|name=VC-1902|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.}} }} {{reflist}}
==Further reading== *Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999) *The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997) *Victoria Crosses of the Anglo-Boer War (Ian Uys, 2000)
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20041204212740/http://www.victoriacross.org.uk/ggsafric.htm Burial location of Alfred Atkinson] "Transvaal, South Africa" *[https://www.victoriacross.org.uk/ccgrhow.htm Location of Alfred Atkinson's Victoria Cross] "Green Howards Museum, Richmond" *{{Find a Grave|8543823}} *[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] Evolution of a Name
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atkinson, Alfred}} Category:1874 births Category:1900 deaths Category:British recipients of the Victoria Cross Category:Second Boer War recipients of the Victoria Cross Category:Green Howards soldiers Category:British Army personnel killed in the Second Boer War Category:Military personnel from Leeds Category:People from Armley Category:British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross