{{Short description|Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross (1897–1968)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}} {{Infobox military person |name=James Palmer Huffam |birth_date=31 March 1897 |death_date=16 February 1968 (aged 70) |birth_place=Dunblane, Scotland |death_place=Burnt Oak, Middlesex, England |burial_place= |image=James Palmer Huffam VC.jpg |caption= |nickname= |allegiance={{flag|United Kingdom}} |service_years= |service_number= |rank=Major |branch={{army|United Kingdom}} |commands= |unit=Duke of Wellington's Regiment |battles=World War I<br>World War II |awards=Victoria Cross |other_work= }} Major '''James Palmer Huffam''' VC (31 March 1897 – 16 February 1968) was a Scottish 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.
==Early years== He was born in Dunblane on 31 March 1897. He was the fourth son of Edward Valentine Huffam, an Army Pensioner (Royal Highlanders) and High Bailiff, and Dorothy Roughead Huffam, of 2 West Street, Spittal, Berwick-on-Tweed. His siblings were Alfred Meek, John Henry, Elizabeth Clara Margery, Dorothy Francis, Henry Harold and Dorothy Gertrude Beatrice. Huffam was educated at Spittal Council School.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=http://www.scotlandswar.ed.ac.uk/sites/default/files/pdf_Scottish_VCs_0.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816012441/http://www.scotlandswar.ed.ac.uk/sites/default/files/pdf_Scottish_VCs_0.pdf| title=Scottish Victoria Cross Awards|archivedate=16 August 2017|website=www.scotlandswar.ed.ac.uk}}</ref>
==First World War== He was 21 years old, and a second lieutenant in the 5th Battalion, The Duke of Wellington's (West Riding) Regiment,<ref name="DWR">{{cite web|url=http://www.dwr.org.uk/dwr.php?id=55 |title=The Duke of Wellingtons Regiment |accessdate=17 January 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203080152/http://www.dwr.org.uk/dwr.php?id=55 |archivedate= 3 February 2014 }}</ref> British Army, attd, 2nd Battalion during the First World War. On 31 August 1918 at St. Servin's Farm, France, Huffam with three men rushed an enemy machine-gun post and put it out of action. His position was then heavily attacked and he withdrew, carrying back a wounded comrade. Again in the night, accompanied by two men only, he rushed an enemy machine-gun, capturing eight prisoners and enabling the advance to continue. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions;<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=31082|date=26 December 1918|page=15118|supp=y}}</ref> his medal is privately owned and not on display.
==Post-war and Second World War== After the war, James Palmer Huffam remained in the army. He was initiated as a Freemason at St David's Lodge No 393 Berwick on Tweed on 17 Feb 1920, age 22. On 23 April 1935, he married Constance Marion Huffam at Valletta, Malta and they had two children.<ref name="auto"/> He was for a time seconded to the Royal Air Force as a flying officer,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rafweb.org/VC_holders1.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707153444/http://www.rafweb.org/VC_holders1.htm| title=WW1 VC Holders |archivedate=7 July 2010|website=www.rafweb.org}}</ref> He undertook service in India and West Africa. He eventually rose to the rank of major and retired in 1938 for the first time.
During the Second World War he went back into the service and was the Assistant Provost Marshal for France, and was involved in the Normandy landings. He achieved the rank of major.<ref name="FamTree">{{cite web | url=http://hougham-huffam.org/getperson.php?personID=I763&tree=hougham | title=The Hougham/Huffam Family tree | accessdate=17 January 2013}}</ref> He retired for the second time in 1945 and died in 1968 at Burnt Oak in Middlesex, on 16 February 1968.<ref name="auto"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Bibliography== *{{cite book|last=Gliddon|first=Gerald|title=Road to Victory 1918|series=VCs of the First World War|year=2014|orig-date=2002|publisher=The History Press|isbn=978-0750953610}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20090623050143/http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/stewart/golders.htm Location of grave and VC medal] ''(Golders Green)'' * [http://duke-of-wellington-s-james-huffam-victori.eventcreate.com Duke of Wellington's Regiment James Huffam Victoria Cross WW1 Centenary - 1st Sept 2018]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huffam, James Palmer}} Category:1897 births Category:1968 deaths Category:Scottish Freemasons Category:British World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross Category:British Army personnel of World War I Category:British Army personnel of World War II Category:Duke of Wellington's Regiment officers Category:People from Dunblane Category:British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross Category:Territorial Force officers Category:Royal Air Force officers Category:20th-century Royal Air Force personnel Category:Military personnel from Stirling (council area)