Service Number: 8254 Rank: Not known Enlistment Unit: 6th Field Artillery Transferred Unit: Not known or not applicable Date of Enlistment: 14 September 1915 Enlistment Age: 21 years 4 months Fate of person: Returned to Australia

Biographical Details

James was 21 when he enlisted in the 6th Field Artillery Brigade in September 1915. He was a blacksmith who had been active in the cadets, which explains why he was quickly promoted to corporal. He embarked from Melbourne on the Botanist in November and after initial training in Egypt he arrived in France in March 1916. He became an instructor at a farriers school but after a severely sprained ankle he was sent to England to convalesce. He proceeded to the Front in September 1917 and returned to Australia in November 1919. James went into business in Devonport and then Melbourne but after a serious operation in 1927 he returned to Launceston where he became a familiar figure in his wheelchair at race meetings. James died in Launceston in 1938.

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