James MITCHELL

5750, Private. b. 1876, Clayton d. Sat. 16th September 1916 (aged 37).

James had grown up in Clayton and was the second son of Henry and Ann Mitchell of 5, Crestville Terrace. James had worked as a stone quarryman for many years before his time in the army.

He attested to the 1st/5th Duke of Wellington’s in Halifax, after volunteering in April 1915 and on completion of his training landed in France in early August 1916. Less than seven weeks later James was severely wounded by shrapnel during the capturing of some German trenches and was taken back to a base hospital. He was quickly shipped back to a hospital in Cambridge where he died of his wounds on Saturday 16th September.

On the day before he died his family had been ‘wired’ to say that he was dangerously ill and that they must come to see him – his two elder brothers made the journey down overnight, but on their arrival on Saturday morning found that he died just an hour before.

The Bradford Weekly Telegraph published a death notice the following Friday and gave the following description of James: “He had a genial temperament and in days of old was one of Clayton Rugby teams best players.”

He was a long standing member of the Gatehouse Working Men’s Club which flew their flag at half mast as a sign of respect on the day of his funeral at the Baptist Churchyard.

James is buried in Clayton Baptist Churchyard.

James was the only Mitchell boy to enter the war. His elder brother Ackroyd and younger brothers Albert, George W and Thomas H all survived the war.