James died during the latter part of 2002.

He was born on 8 October 1920. He enlisted at Northampton on 2 May 1939, into the Northants Yeomanry, serving with them until June 1940.

On 28 June 1940 he sailed to the Middle East to join The 8th King’s Royal Irish Hussars, then at Helmien Barracks, Abbasi, Cairo.

He took part in the Desert Campaign moving to Cyprus with the Regiment from January 1943 until June 1943 returning to Cyrenaica.

On 12 December 1943, he sailed with the Regiment to Cyprus on HMT Almanzora, disembarking at Gourock.

On 8 June 1944, he landed with the Regiment in Normandy, taking part in the battles on the way to Berlin.

He was posted back to the UK in July 1945 and took his discharge to the Reserve on 10 July on which he remained until February 1954.

He, together with his wife Ivy, were regular attendees at the Field of Remembrance and in November 1992 was introduced to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

James was a loyal and supportive member of the Regimental Association.

Related topics

  1. A short history of The 8th Hussars
  2. Middle East (Egypt and Libya) timeline
  3. North-West Europe 1944-45 timeline