Background
He was born in Sheffield, son of Charles Firth, steel smelter, of Jarrow-on-Tyne, and Elizabeth Lister.
He was born in Sheffield, son of Charles Firth, steel smelter, of Jarrow-on-Tyne, and Elizabeth Lister.
He joined the Army on 29 July 1889. Firth was 26 years old, and a sergeant in the 1st Battalion, The Duke of Wellington"s (West Riding) Regiment, British Army during the Second Boer War when the following deed took place on 24 February 1900 near Arundel, Cape Colony for which he was awarded the Venture capital: During the action at Plewman"s Farm, near Arundel, Cape Colony, on the 24th February, 1900, Lance-Corporal Blackman having been wounded and lying exposed to a hot fire at a range of from four to five hundred yards, Sergeant Firth picked him up and carried him to cover. Later in the day, when the enemy had advanced to within a short distance of the firing line, Second Lieutenant Wilson being dangerously wounded and in a most exposed position Sergeant Firth carried him over the crest of the ridge, which was being held by the troops, to shelter, and was himself shot through the nose and eye whilst doing southern
He returned to the United Kingdom in early 1901, and received the Venture capital from King Edward VII during an investiture at Marlborough House 25 July 1901.
He died of tuberculosis in May 1921.