Pte. J. Thompson

FIRST NAMES: James

UNIT: 15th Cheshire Regiment

NUMBER:19519

STATUS: Killed in Action

DATE OF DEATH: 21st April 1916

CEMETERY OR MEMORIAL: Rue-Des-Berceaux Military Cemetery, Richebourg-L'Avoue, France

AGE: Unknown


James born in Blackburn and he was the eldest son of Mr & Mrs George Thompson of 26 Victoria Terrace, Northallerton. He worked at the Linoleum Factory and was a keen footballer who played for various teams in Romanby.

He returned to the town of his birth to enlist in the Army in 1915 and had been at the front for over nine months, serving in X Company of the 15th Cheshire Regiment before he was killed. He was hit by shrapnel during an artillery bombardment of his trench and was killed instantly. His comrades buried him and marked the position of his grave, which was probably then moved to the Rue-Des-Berceaux Military Cemetery during the battlefield clearances and burial concentrations which took place after the War.

There was a report in the local newspapers at the time which suggested that he had just been promoted to Lance Corporal when he was killed, but this is not reflected in the official army records.