31 July 1917, James THOMAS, aged 24, 1st Welsh Guards

[BashLad]

James ‘Jimmy’ THOMAS, born 1894 in Hensingham, Cumbria. He was the son of Christian THOMAS and Agnes Osbourne DORRIAN. As a family they moved to Lancashire around the turn of the century. By trade he was a conditioner at Holden Wood Bleach Works. He played the trombone for the Haslingden Temperance Band and was linked with Helmshore Wesleyan chapel. He married Elizabeth Anne BENTLEY 1913 in the Rossendale area with whom he had one daughter and they lived at Top o' th' Brow, Helmshore. He enlisted at Haslingden in October 1916. He was a Guardsman (private) in the 1st Battalion of the Welsh Guards; number 3313. He was killed in action 31 July 1917 during the Battle of Pilckem Ridge near Langemark, Belgium. He was buried 1917 in Artillery Wood Cemetery, Boezinge, Belgium with grave reference #IIB11.