Current Information:

Age-39

48, Tooting Grove, Tooting

Dickebusch New Military Cemetery, Belgium

There was very little rest for the infantry on the Western Front. When not in the front line or support trenches they were in reserve and that nearly always meant either providing carrying parties to take supplies of all kinds to the front line or working at trench digging, road making, railway laying and host of other tasks, sometimes under command of the Royal Engineers. These activities usually took place at night and were often very dangerous. Harassing artillery and machine-gun fire from the enemy would be kept up intermittently throughout the night designed to disrupt the work as much as possible. Tracks along which carrying parties had to travel to reach the front line were known to the German gunners and targeted accordingly. Many a soldier met his death while in reserve.

On 24th March, 1915, the 2nd East Surrey battalion of 85 Brigade, 28th Division, left Locre and marched to Dickebusch near Ypres. They arrived at 7.45pm and 300 men then proceeded to the front as a working party during which James Wilson was killed.