213211 Pte. Frank James British Army 2nd Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment from:55 Oxford Street, Far Cotton, Northampton Frank James was 18 when he joined the 2nd Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment as a volunteer at the outbreak of war in 1914.
He saw heavy fighting at the Battles of Neuve Chapelle, Aubers Ridge, Loos, The Somme, Flers-Courcelette, Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele, Cambrai and the Retreat & Advance of 1918. During that time he was wounded four times and only returned home to Northampton once.
However, he survived the war, joined the Gas Company in Northampton and lived in Kingsthorpe until his death aged 91. Surprisingly, his three brothers William, Fred and Arthur, and his father George, who were also involved in the war, all survived too and lived to a ripe old age.
Frank's nephew Ron James recorded his memoirs before he died and they have been published in a book called 'A Private's War', which contains a number of interesting photographs.
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