Military History

James is listed as being killed in action on 1st April 1918. The 2nd/6th Battalion contains little to no information and there were no entries made in the preceding 4 days or the following day.

Marcelcave - 31.3.1918: No diary entry.

Gentelles – 1.4.1918: Marched to Gentelles.

Gentelles – 2.4.1918: No diary entry.

The following extract from the Story of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment by C. L. Kingsford gives a little more information.

"On the 27th both battalions [2nd/6th & 2nd 7th] were in the line at Le Quesnel. But that day the Germans broke through further north, and working southwards began to threaten the left flank of the 5th Army. The 61st Division was hastily sent up in lorries to Marcelcave, where they occupied a position in a shallow railway-cutting, just north of the village. Next day an unsuccessful attack was made towards Warfusée and Lamotte, and at evening the Germans were forcing their way into Marcelcave. The 2/7th only retired from the railway when both their flanks were in the air. A day of comparative quiet followed ; but on March 29 came renewed pressure, under which the line behind Marcelcave was held with difficulty. A wet and cheerless night closed on a trying day; there were no rations and the promised relief did not arrive. Nor was relief possible till late next evening, when both battalions, after ten terrible days, went back to billets at Gentelles".