James Western

Memorial: Kingswood - Holy Trinity Church

Regiment: Scots Guards

Medals: 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Victory Medal

Rank and number: Corporal 7249

Parents: Joseph Henry and Mary Rosina Western

Marital status: Married

Home address: 5 Lansdown Place, High Street, Kingswood, Bristol

Pre-war occupation: Soldier

Date of birth: 1889

Place of birth: Kingswood, Bristol

Date of death: 16/05/1915

Buried/Commemorated at: Buried at Woburn Abbey Cemetery, Cuinchy, Pas de Calais, France and commemorated on the Kingswood Holy Trinity Memorial

Age: 25

Further information:

James was born in Kingswood, the son of a bootmaker and a tailoress and the second youngest of six children with two brothers and three sisters. James was serving in the Scots Guards in 1911 and stationed in London and at the beginning of 1913 he married Ivy Isabella Milton.

James served with the 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards, his battalion was mobilised to Belgium in October of 1914 where they fought several battles before being deployed to France. James died from wounds on the second day of the Battle of Festubert in France which lasted for 10 days and resulted in 16,000 allied casualties and a German victory. James, who was reburied after the armistice, was originally buried in a cemetery used by fighting units serving in the front-line that was located in an old orchard near a forward dressing station close to Richebourg St. Vaast. One of James' older brothers, Joseph, served in the same battalion and was killed in action 3 years later.

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/