Date of birth: 31/10/1896

Place of birth: Belfast, Antrim, Ireland, United Kingdom

Last known residence: Belfast, Antrim, Ireland, United Kingdom

Country: Ireland, United Kingdom

Force: British Expeditionary Force

Rank: Rifleman

Service number: 5037

Enlistment place: Lisburn, County Antrim, Ireland, United Kingdom

Units:  —  Royal Irish Rifles, 7th Bn.  (Last known unit)

Date of death: 16/08/1917

Place of death: Potsdam, Zonnebeke, Belgium

Cause of death: Killed in action (K.I.A.)

Age: 20

1914 Star Medal — 07/11/1914

British War Medal Medal

Victory Medal Medal

James Agnew was born in 1896 and lived in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was married to Annabella Agnew. From the first year of the war, James served with the 2nd Royal Irish Fusiliers. He was later assigned to the 7th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, part of the 48th Brigade of the 16th (Irish) Division. In 1917, the division was deployed at the Battle of Passchendaele, specifically in the Battle of Langemarck on 16 August 1917.

On 16 August 1917, it was to attack the German positions west of Zonnebeke with the 48th and 49th Brigades. In anticipation of the attack, the battalions of both Brigades occupied positions on the Frezenberg. The 7th Royal Irish Rifles occupied the division's right flank and attacked at 4.45am. On their way to Potsdam, they came under machine-gun fire from bunkers on the railway between Ypres and Roeselare, especially from Borry Farm and Potsdam. The crossfire immediately caused heavy losses and all officers became casualties before the first objective was reached. Some bunkers along the railway line were taken, but the attack stalled. Reinforcements were to no avail and the 7th Royal Irish Rifles had to dig in before Potsdam. In the afternoon, the Germans launched a counterattack and the men of the 16th (Irish) Division were forced to retreat to Frezenberg. Losses were high: four officers were killed, seven wounded and six missing, 39 other ranks were killed and 269 wounded or missing.

Gunner James Agnew, 21, was one of the missing and was reported killed a few days later. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Tyne Cott Memorial, panel 138A, along with his namesake (no 42470) of the 14th Battalion who also fell on 16 August 1917.

James Agnew  Same name and same date of death. Both served in the same regiment and both appear on panel 138 A of the Tyne Cot Memorial.

7 Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (The National Archives, Kew (TNA), British Army war diaries 1914-1922, WO 95/1975/2). https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ Sources used

British Army World War I Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920 (The National Archives, Kew (TNA), WO 372). https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ Sources used

Falls C., The History of the First Seven Battalions, The Royal Irish Rifles in the Great War, (Aldershot, Gale&Polden Ltd. Wellington Works,1925), 108-111. Sources used

McCarthy Chris., Passchendaele. The Day-by-Day Account (London, Unicorn Publishing Group, 2018), 52-55. https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ Sources used

Soldier' Effects Records (National Army Museum, Chelsea (NAM) 1901-60; NAM Accession Number: 1991-02-333). https://www.nam.ac.uk/ Sources used

UK, World War I Service Medal and Awards Rolls, 1914-1920(The National Archives, Kew (TNA), WO 329). https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ Sources used

War Office: Soldiers’ Documents from Pension Claims, First World War (The National Archives, Kew (TNA), WO 364). https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ Sources used

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/845755

Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/659432

Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=c4ad2350-c6d9-46d3-9526-bf5197601965