James (Jim) Hulbert
Memorial: Kingswood - Holy Trinity Church
Regiment: Royal Dublin Fusiliers
Medals: 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Silver War Badge, Victory Medal
Rank and number: Private 41389
Parents: James and Harriet Hulbert
Home address: Factory Road, Kingswood, Bristol
Date of birth: 1898
Place of birth: Kingswood, Bristol
Date of death: 21/03/1918
Buried/Commemorated at: No known burial site but commemorated at Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France and Kingswood Holy Trinity Memorial
Age: 19
Further information:
Jim was born in Kingswood, the son of a bootmaker and a middle child of ten children with five sisters and four brothers. Jim's mother and most of his older siblings were also working in the boot industry.
Jim's battalion moved to France in March of 1916, as part of the 16th Irish Division, where they fought in various actions on the Western Front including the Battles of the Somme, Arras and Ypres. Jim, who was initially reported as missing, then POW and was later presumed killed in action at Ronssay. He died during Operation Michael, a German victory that sent the Allied Fifth Army into retreat across the former Somme battlefields. Jim's body was never found and the total loss of the Irish Division between 21st March and 3rd April was 7149 men - the worst casualty figure of any British division involved in Operation Michael. The memorial, where Jim is remembered, commemorates over 14,000 casualties of the United Kingdom and 300 of the South African Forces who have no known grave and who died on the Somme from 21 March to 7 August 1918.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
This information has been provided by Sarah Hands, Volunteer Researcher for the South Gloucestershire War Memorials Web Site.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
https://www.cwgc.org/
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/
https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/