My grandmother, John`s sister, spoke often of John with great pride. The following was taken from the local newspaper The Evening Sentinel. Mrs Greatrex of 4, Fleet Street, Stoke. has lost both her husband and brother in the war. News has recently been received that her brother Corporal John William James, West Yorks Regiment, machine-gun section Has died in Germany from wounds received in action. He was wounded in the Battle of Mons, but recovered and has taken his part in many engagements since, including Ypres, Armentieres, Loos and others, and he has been wounded four times. It was on May 3rd this Year (1917) that he was again wounded and then taken prisoner. A Sergeant wrote to Mrs Greatrex from the same camp in Germany, saying that Corporal James was in good heart at first and it was thought that he would recover, but gradually became woollen, and died on June 6th (1917) He had been seriously wounded in the chest, where he was wounded in the Battle of Mons. Last October(1916) he broke his arm when jumping the barbed wire to rush after the Germans. Writing from the trenches on November 6th 1916 , to his sister, he said they had had 38 days in the trenches straight off, but were looking forward then to making an advance against the enemy. Private F.C.Greatrex, the husband of Mrs Greatrex, died of wounds received in action in France two years ago next September. Many of her cousins have also lost their lives in the war. My mother`s father also died in the WW1. Both of my granddads died of wounds along with my great uncle. My grandfathers were Frederick Christopher Greatrex and Robert Joynson,

Alma Burgess