James Fynn James Henry Finn VC ( 24 November 1893 – 30 March 1917 ) 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 . He was also awarded the Order of Karageorge which is Serbia ' s equivalent to the Victoria Cross . Early life . Fynn was born in St Clement near Truro , Cornwall , to Frederick John Finn ( b . 1873 ) and Mary Baxter Finn ( née Uglow ) . The family later moved to Downing St . , Bodmin . Fynn was from a big family , with five brothers ( Frederick , David , Sussex , Albert E . R . ( of Kilhallon , Par , Cornwall ) and Herbert ( known as John ) ) and five sisters ( Florence King , Elizabeth Finn , Annie Hoskin , Bertha Wigget ( of Watchet , Somerset ) and Beatrice Capper ( formerly Port , of Portishead , Somerset ) ) . One sister , Elizabeth Mary Finn , died in 1953 and was buried at Bodmin with her father at Bodmin Old Cemetery . Interestingly , the headstone also mentions James , killed in action 1917 . Finn went to the South Wales Valleys looking for work . He eventually found employment at the colliery at Cwmtillery near Abertillery . At the Colliery he made friends with Willie Townsend and eventually went to live with the family in Frederick Street which has since been demolished . Military service . On the outbreak of War he immediately enlisted with the local Regiment , The 4th Battalion of the South Wales Borderers . It was on 9 April 1916 at Sanna - i - Yat , Mesopotamia ( now Iraq ) , that 22 year old Private Fynn earned the Victoria Cross for his bravery . Fynn was , according to family records and letters , badly wounded . He was carried back to safety , he died of his injuries that day . Legacy . His Memorial at Basra , Iraq can be found at panel numbers 16 and 62 . The Basra Memorial was originally sited within Basra War Cemetery but in 1997 the Memorial was moved by presidential decree of Saddam Hussain . The move , carried out by the authorities in Iraq , involved a considerable amount of manpower , transport costs and sheer engineering on their part , the Memorial has been re - erected in its entirety . The Basra Memorial is now located 32 kilometres along the road to Nasiriyah , in the middle of what was a major battleground during the Gulf War . The Memorial consists of a roofed colonnade of white Indian stone , 80 metres long , with an obelisk 16 metres high as the central feature . The names are engraved on slate panels fixed to the wall behind the columns . More than 40 , 000 British , Indian and West African dead who died in the operations in Mesopotamia from the Autumn of 1914 to the end of August 1921 are commemorated on the Memorial . In 1966 Finn was also remembered at his home town of Bodmin when an estate was named " " Finn VC Estate " " in his honour . The ceremony was attended by many members of his family and members of his Regiment . The plaque commemorating the event was unveiled , and can be seen opposite the library in Bodmin . Sadly his VC is now kept locked away in a vault after it was donated to Bodmin Town Council , it has not been shown in public for many years . Whilst his body was never returned to Cornwall he is remembered on his father ' s headstone in Bodmin Cemetery .