WHEN Jack Kay kept hearing stories about his great uncle being a war hero he wanted to find out more.

He did not know what had happened to Jimmy's Victoria Cross or even which war he had fought in. But last week he finally uncovered the truth and saw Jimmy's photo for the first time. Evening Telegraph reporter ANDREW TAYLOR helped Jack to locate the medal and takes a look at his search for a hero. . .

IT was a fiercely hot day among the scrubby, rock covered slopes of Caesar's Camp, Natal, South Africa, and 18 members of the 1st Battalion Manchester Regiment had been under heavy shrapnel fire from the Boers for hours.

When the bombardment finally stopped only two of them remained alive. They held their post on the slopes of Ladysmith from General Schalk Burgera and a thousand Transvaal commandos for a further 15 hours without food or water, exchanging fire continuously until relief came.

The survivors were Privates Jimmy Pitts, from Blackburn, and Robert Scott, from Haslingden, and both were subsequently awarded the Victoria Cross for their courage under fire and devotion to duty on January 6, 1900.

The report of the Caesar's Camp battle in the Northern Daily Telegraph, which later became the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, said: "Enemy attacked Caesar's Camp at 2.45am this morning in considerable force. Enemy everywhere repulsed but fighting still continues."

More than 100 years later Jimmy's great nephew Jack Kay was trying to find out more about the legendary stories his father George had told him about the great uncle who was a war hero, but knew nothing of the regiment or even the conflict he fought in.

Jack, a former photographer for the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, now living in London, said: "I had heard from my father about my great uncle Jimmy Pitts evidently getting the Victoria Cross in the Great War.

"As I got older I became more inquisitive about how and why he achieved this great honour, but I kept coming up against brick walls.

"I checked a number of World War One history books and local regiments of the time, but no VCs.

"I was chatting with my wife about it and she said I had never checked the Boer War. So I decided to visit the Imperial War Museum and was invited into the private reading room to research the books and, eureka! I found it."

"I was so excited at finding it after all these years. I remember my father telling me that every January 1 my great uncle would get a postal order for 10 guineas to get drunk with. He also had a job laying flag stones near his home in Duckworth Street, off King Street."

Jack, who lived in the Redlam area of Blackburn before moving to London in 1969, added: "I had never seen a picture of him before and he is an amazing ringer for my grandmother. I can definitely see the family resemblance.

"It's highly likely that these were among the first VCs awarded in the 20th century and as such is of great historical importance to the area.

"I suppose the reason I did not hear much about it was because World War One came along just 14 years later and wiped out half the town.

"The Boer War really did fall out of people's memory."

James Pitts, whose sister Lizzy is Jack's grandmother, was born on February 26, 1877.

He died at Blackburn Infirmary on February 18, 1955, aged 77. He is buried in Whalley New Road Cemetery, Blackburn, and also has a commemorative plaque in his name at Blackburn's old town hall.

A piece of detective work with the help of the Lancashire Evening Telegraph put Jack in touch with David Hopkins, curator of the Museum of the Manchesters, Ashton Under-Lyne, where Jimmy's medal is kept.

The incident is also commemorated with a statue in honour of the regiment in St Anne's Square, Manchester.

He said: "Pitt and Scott were the first soldiers in the Manchester Regiment to be awarded the Victoria Cross.

"It was very significant because from then on January 6 was referred to as Ladysmith Day by the rest of the regiment and became a regiment holiday."

The Manchester Regiment now known as The King's Regiment.

The crisis in South Africa which caused the war was the culmination of 250 years of expansion and conflict between the Boers, mainly Dutch, and British settlers.

The Boers declared war on Britain on October 9, 1899, and peace was not declared until May 31, 1902. Thomas Pakhenham, author of The Boer War, called it the longest, costliest, bloodiest and most humiliating war for Britain between 1815 and 1914.

Jack, 62, added: "I'm absolutely delighted now I know where the medal is.

"It has been gnawing away at me for years and years and I was beginning to wonder if it was true or not. It was simply the fact that I was looking at the wrong war."

Jack now intends to visit the museum and the other monuments when he returns to the North West shortly to celebrate the birth of his daughter's child.

Are you related to Private Robert Scott, born in Haslingden on June 4, 1874? Phone the Newsdesk on 01254 678678.