LANE, James

James Lane came from Brierley Hill and was married with three children under the age of 8. He worked at Messrs. Newton Iron Works He volunteered in October 1914 and joined the South Staffords. He was sent to the 9th Battalion which became the Pioneer Battalion of the 23rd Division. They trained at Shorncliffe and Bordon and arrived on the Western Front in July 1915. They went to the quieter part of the front line in Artois and were then involved in the 1916 fighting on Vimy ridge and several phases of the Somme at Albert, Contalmaison, Pozières and Morval. In 1917 they were in the third phase of the Third Battle of Ypres and fought in the Menin Road struggle starting on the 21st September. Gains had been made on the first day but a German counter-attack brought the Pioneers directly into the battle. On the 24th Pioneer James Lane was seriously injured and taken to a Canadian Casualty Clearing Station where he died of wounds a few hours later. He was 30 years of age and is buried at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery (XIX C 12A) and commemorated on the Brierley Hill and Brierley Hill church Memorials.