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Pte. James Brookes
British Army North Staffordshire Regiment
from:Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs
My grandfather, James Brookes, served in the North Staffs Regiment. When it lost so many men he was transferred to the 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers. He served in France and after a battle in France was recorded as missing after an engagement on 12th October 1916. I still have the telegram sent to my grandmother. He survived and returned home after the war. His story was that he was severely injured by shrapnel, so badly that his best friend next to him in the trenches died of shock at his wounds. The Germans picked up my grandfather and after extremely risky surgery which left him with a concave chest, he recovered. He was sent to work in the fields and so as not to help the German war effort he broke the stem of every corn shoot he planted so that it wouldn't grow.
I don't think my grandfather ever really recovered his health but he did marry my grandmother and had three children, and lots of grandchildren who remember him fondly and are very proud of his service to the country.
