Richard James was killed in action on 17 March 1945 whilst being held as a prisoner of war. He was a Private in the 2nd Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment (Service No. 14565794). He was initially buried in Margraten Cemetery and and re-interred on 1 May 1947 in grave III.A.10. in the Overloon CWG Cemetery. The inscription on his grave reads: “In proud memory of my husband. He will stand as a symbol of everything fine.”

No photo of Richard James has yet been found. Should anyone reading this have a photo of him or further information regarding him – or if they are aware of any errors in his biography below can they please contact the Foundation?

Military Career

During the Second World War the 2nd Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment was deployed to North-West Europe but had to be evacuated from Dunkirk in 1940. It then remained in the United Kingdom, before landing at Algiers in November 1942 during Operation Torch and fought in the Tunisian campaign. The Battalion was then attached to 128 (Hampshire) Brigade, 46th Division and took part in the Salerno landing in September 1943. By early October 1943, the whole of southern Italy was in Allied hands. However, the next stage of the Italian campaign became a grinding and attritional slog against well-prepared defenses in terrain and weather conditions which favoured defense. It took until mid-January 1944 to fight through three auxiliary defensive lines to reach the Gustav Line, the backbone of Germany’s Winter Line defenses.

Richard James enlisted on 18 March, 1943 in Worcester. He was based in the UK until 12 December 1943 when he was sent to North Africa. He went missing while in Italy and it was found that he had been captured on 19 January 1944. It is likely that he was captured during the failed attempt to cross the Garigliano River.

The Garigliano River lay at the western end of the Gustav Line. The 46th Division were tasked with crossing this river on 19 January 1944. The Garigliano was flowing very fast, and although one Company of the 2nd Battalion succeeded in getting over and establishing a cable control for the boats which followed, the cables became snagged, broke and the boats were swept downstream. Try as they might, no troops got over the river other than the one Company of 2nd Battalion and as dawn approached the attack was abandoned and the battalions returned to their former positions.

It may be that Richard was one of those who succeeded in getting across, only to be captured. A respondent to an online forum mentioned that his Grandfather crossed the Garigliano on 19 January and was taken prisoner on the 20th at 9 o’clock. He had said that the lieutenant they were with assessed the situation and surrendered rather than get into a pointless firefight. Richard and three other men of the 2nd Hampshire Battalion (Privates E S Glover, C Smith G D Woodhouse) were reported missing that day – but mistakenly attributed to the Worcestershire Regiment. This was later corrected in April 1944.

A letter indicates that Richard was held as a Prisoner of War (No. 279233) at Stalag IV-B Mühlberg (Elbe) and transferred in April 1944 to Stalag IV-G. Stalag IV-B was one of the largest prisoner-of-war camps in Germany during World War II. It was located 8km north-east of the town of Mühlberg in the Prussian Province of Saxony, just east of the Elbe river and about 48 km north of Dresden. Stalag IV-G was not a camp in the usual sense, but a series of Work Camps scattered throughout the state of Saxony, administered from a central office in Oschatz, a small town situated between Leipzig and Dresden. Here, men were assigned to 76 separate Arbeitskommando (“Work details”), working in agriculture, forestry, and industry. The Arbeitskommando varied in size from around 20 to over 100 men, who worked between 8 and 11 hours a day, 6 days a week, with only Sundays free. The area around Oschatz was one of the last to be liberated at the end of the war.

Richard was killed during an aerial bombardment on 17 March 1945. A Red Cross inspection took place at this camp on 11-16 March. The following was stated in the report: “Report of deaths: The Delegate of the Protecting Power regrets having to report the deaths of 24 British prisoners of war who, during the air-raid on Leipzig on February 27th, 1945, were killed. These POW were in well-built slip trenches with their German guards but received a direct hit and were killed immediately.” It is likley that Richard was killed in similar circumstances the day after the Red Cross delegation left.

Family History

Richard James was the son of Thomas and Ellen James and the husband of Iris James, of Saltley, Birmingham.
 
Thomas James James married Ellen Morris in 1901 in Aberystwyth, Cardiganshire, Wales. Thomas and Ellen were both born in Aberystwyth – Thomas on 29 October 1874 and Ellen on 9 January 1875. They had children as follows: David 14 May 1904, Jane 1905/6, John 1907/8, Thomas 14 May 1910, Margaret 1911, Richard 6 February 1912 and Elizabeth Miriam 1916. David, Jane and John were born in Bargoed, Glamorganshire while the others were born in Gelligaer, Glamorganshire. Bargoed is in the valley of the Rhymney River, south east of Merthyr Tydfil in the South Wales Coalfield. Gelligaer is a little to the south west of Bargoed, north east of Pontypridd.
 
In 1911 the family were living at 19 Glyngaer Terrace, Gelligaer. Thomas was employed as a Colliery Rider – below ground. Their first five children were with them, as was Thomas’ sister, Margaret James, a spinster aged 63. She was employed as a dressmaker.
 
In 1921 they were living at 35, Penybryn Terrace, Gelligaer. Thomas was in the same occupation with the Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Co. but was out of work at the time. All their children except Margaret were living at home. David was a Coal Miner/Hewer, also at the Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Co. but was also out of work. Jane was in General Domestic Service for a Private Employer. John had been working for D J Isaac, Dairy Man, but he too was out of work.
 
In September 1939 they were still at the same address. Thomas was now shown as Incapacitated – as was his son Thomas. Only their sons David and Thomas were still at home. David was working as a Colliery Rider (Below Ground).
 
Richard James married Iris Phillips in Birmingham on 9 April, 1938. Iris’ granddaughter recalled being told that Iris dressed in the flapper style for their marriage. “Apparently they both could do a cracking Charleston.”
 
Iris Phillips was the daughter of Harry Phillips and Christina Hope who married in the Pontypridd district in 1917. They had three children: Reginald on 16 November 1917, Iris on 6 January 1921 and Audrey H in 1926. In September 1939 Harry and Christina were living at 2, Dynevor Terrace, Nelson, Llanfabon, Glamorganshire. Nelson is just south west of Gelligaer. Harry was born in 1893 in Hereford in England and was a Coal Miner/Hewer at Guest Keen & Nettlefold, Dowlais, Cardiff, Colliers but was out of work at the time. Christina was born in 1983 in Nelson, Glamorganshire. With them were Reginald and Iris.
 
Reginald Phillips married Susan J Begbie in Birmingham in 1938.
 
In September 1939 Richard and Iris James were living at 64 Rock Road, Solihull, Warwickshire. They were living in the same house as Reginald and Susan J Phillips, an undisclosed child, and Edward F Gregory, a married bricklayer born 4 April 1911. Both Richard and Reginald were Capstan Lathe Hands.
 
Iris’ address at the time of Richard’s death in 1945 was 2 Scott Grove, Olton which is in Solihull.
 
After James’ death, Iris married Henry J Newton in 1946 in Birmingham. They went on to have four children, all in Birmingham: Ronald H in 1947 who died in infancy, Patricia A in 1948, Alan H in 1949 and Ronald in 1951.
 
Iris died on 21 December 2002 in Birmingham.
 
Iris and Henry Newton’s granddaughter told the following story: “My Nan was waiting in the window when an end of war street party was happening, waiting for Dick as she called him to come home  – but on that day she received a telegram I think from one of his friends.” She says that Iris had loved Richard and never forgot him.

From FindMyPast website: Civil and Parish Birth, Marriage and Death Records; England Census and 1939 Register Records; Electoral Rolls; Military Records including Casualty Lists; British Newspaper Archive
Richard James’ Service Record via Elske van Kammen
https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/royal-hampshire-regiment
https://www.royalhampshireregiment.org/about-the-museum/timeline/the-italian-campaign-after-salerno/
Wikipedia: Italian Capmaign
Wikipedia: Stalag IV-B and IV-G
Pegasus Archive – Visitof Red Cross to Stalag IV-G 11-16 March 1945
Assistance from Sheila Barry, Lucy Cooper, Jennifer Golland – and their Ancestry Trees

Research Elske van Kammen, Elaine Gathercole