14 December 1917: Pte James Ormerod Tattersall

James Tattersall was born in Stacksteads, Lancashire 1894.

Location of Stacksteads, Lancashire in the north west of England (cc OpenStreetMap)

His father was a coal miner. James was a weaver. 

After enlisting into the West Riding Territorials in Barnoldswick, James was sent to France in September 1916 and served on the Somme and in Belgium before being wounded in July 1917, whilst serving as part of a Lewis Gun team. 

British Lewis gun team manning a post on the bank of the Lys canal at St Venant during the Battle of Hazebrouck. CC IWM Q 10902

Sent back to the UK in October 1917 for recuperation, he married Edith Whiteoak, a 22 year old cotton weaver, on 27 November 1917, before returning to France on 5 December.

Just nine days later, James was killed in action on the Passchendaele Ridge. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing, Belgium. There is a memorial to the West Riding Division at Essex Farm Cemetery. 

Above: The Pension Card for James Tattersall, which is part of the WFA's collection on Fold3

307477 Pte James Ormerod Tattersall, 1/7th Bn DoW (W.Riding) Regt.

Memorial to the West Riding Division, Essex Farm

14 December 1917 killed in action 

Research by David O'Mara with additional research by Jonathan Vernon.

Further information