James Pratt Roxby

Forename(s):
James Pratt

Surname:
Roxby

Initial(s):
J P

Service Number:
344251

Rank:
Gunner

Regiment:
Royal Garrison Artillery, 213th Siege Battery

Died:
19/12/1917

Aged:
22

Buried:
Menin Road South Military Cemetery

Service History:
Enlisted in Alnwick, Northumberland on 11 December 1915.

Roxby's regimental service number was within a series allocated to the Forth (City of Edinburgh) Fortress Royal Garrison Artillery early in 1917. 213th Siege Battery was part of the pre-war Scottish coastal defences manned by the Territorial Force.

213th Siege Battery went to France in late 1916 or early 1917. It was originally equipped with 4 x 8-inch (20cm) howitzers, later increased to 6.

Roxby joined the Battery in France in June 1917.

The Battery fought in the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele). By December 1917 the battle had been closed down & fighting had been reduced to the routine of winter trench warfare, with frequent exchanges of artillery fire along the Menin Road, which was a notorious part of the sector.

The Battery's War Diary for 19 December records the death of Roxby:

'In evening a premature... occurred in gun No. 432 destroying the gun & causing the following casualties: Killed No. 34425 Gnr. Roxby J. P. Wounded...'

Four of Roxby's comrades were wounded by this incident. The War Diary goes on to record his burial the following day.
(Source: 'The Fallen of Embleton 1914-1919'; Written & researched by Terry Howells, Mary Kibble, & Monica Cornall; pp. 45-47)

Background:
Born in 1895, at Whittingham, Northumberland, the son of Jonathan James Roxby, by his wife, Elizabeth Roxby (née Pratt) who had married in 1893 in Alnwick district.

Both parents worked in Domestic Service.

In 1901, at the age of 6, Roxby was living with his mother Elizabeth, age 42, in Callaly Castle, Whittingham where she was the Housekeeper in Charge. His father, James, age 41, was at Whalton House, home of Alexander Browne, working as a Valet.

In 1911 James, age 16, was employed as an Office Boy & living with his mother at 3, Dunstanborough Terrace, Christon Bank, Embleton. He later worked as a Clerk in the office of Mr. J. H. Sanderson.

Pre-enlistment occupation: Clerk in the offices of the Alnwick Gas Company.

His father was recorded in 1911 as being a Butler, still for Alexander Browne but, then, at Larbottle Hall, Whittingham. He died in 1915.
(Source: 'The Fallen of Embleton 1914-1919'; Written & researched by Terry Howells, Mary Kibble, & Monica Cornall; pp. 45-47)

Local Memorial:
Alnwick, Alnwick Cricket Club Roll of Honour Edinburgh, Forth RGA War Memorial at St. Giles High Kirk (Cathedral) Embleton, Memorial Obelisk in Spitalford Cemetery Embleton, Church of England School Memorial Plaque