Sergeant Albert Mountain, V.C.
Prince of Wales’ Own (West Yorkshire) Regiment, 15th/17th Battalion, Service no. 19/11
Background
The 968th Victoria Cross was awarded to Albert Mountain. Born 19th April 1896, and originally from York Road, Leeds, Albert’s mother passed away in 1910 aged 45, and Albert followed his father into the mining industry, as a hurrier. He enlisted to serve in the First World War, in April 1915, on his 19th birthday.
Army Days
The German Spring Offensive launched on the 21st March 1918, saw the second worst day of losses in British military history with more than 38,000 casualties. On 26th March 1918, Sergeant Mountain was in command of a rifle squad during the Battle of the Somme, at Hamelincourt, France, when his party of 10 men attacked an advance enemy patrol of about 200 strong, killing half of them. He then rallied his men against the main body of the enemy, to cover the retirement of the rest of his company. With only five men he held at bay 600 of the enemy for half an hour. Sergeant Mountain later took command of the flank post of the battalion, holding on for 27 hours until the enemy finally surrounded his party, however he was one of the few men to fight his way back out. For most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy, he was awarded the Victoria Cross on 7th June 1918.
After the celebrations, reunions and presentations described below, Albert returned to coal mining, marrying his sweetheart Ethel Smith in Burmantofts on 27th September 1919. The modest reticence with which he accepted his war-time awards, was an enduring trait. He was described as “extremely modest and never liked to talk about what he did in the war”. Albert and his family moved back to York Road, where he became a commissionaire. In 1942, he became Landlord of the Miner’s Arms in Garforth, where he remained until his death in 1967.
Kippax Roll of Honour 