Lieu de naissance: Thringstone, Leicestershire, Angleterre, Royaume-Uni

Pays: Angleterre, Royaume-Uni

Force armée: British Expeditionary Force

Rang: Private

Numéro de service: 33469

Incorporation nom de lieu: Leicester, Leicestershire, Angleterre, Royaume-Uni

Unités:  —  York & Lancaster Regiment, 1/5th Bn.  (Dernière unité connue)

Date de décès: 25/03/1918

Lieu de décès: Reutel, Beselare, Belgique

Cause du décès: Killed in action (K.I.A.)

British War Medal Médaille

Victory Medal Médaille

Private James Gee served in the York & Lancaster Regiment 1st/5th Battalion, part of the 148th Brigade, of the 49th (West Riding) Division. The Division had participated in the Battle of Poelcapelle on the 9th of October 1917, a phase of the Third Battle of Ypres (31 July – 10 November 1917) and was brought back to the Flanders Front in February 1918.
On the 2nd of March 1918 the Battalion moved from the Divisional Reserve at the hamlet of Westhoek to the Reutel subsector, East of Polygon Wood, where it relieved the 1st/4th Duke of Wellingtons in the frontline. The sector remained fairly quiet till the 25th of March. On that day the German artillery put down a heavy barrage on the York & Lancaster Regiment 1st/5th Battalion’s left frontline Company. The shelling started at 5 p.m. and lasted around 30 minutes.
After nightfall at 9 p.m. a party consisting of one officer and 31 other ranks along with flanking parties of Lewis Gunners under another officer raided an enemy pill-box. The Raiding party got within 20 yards of the pill-box, but then encountered heavy resistance from German infantry and a machine-gun position, which had been unscathed by the allied barrage. The party was subsequently forced to withdraw, but only suffered three casualties. All three men were wounded by hand grenades.
Private James Gee was killed on the 25th of March 1918. He possibly fell during the heavy German shelling on the Battalion’s left frontline Company, as the raiding party suffered no deadly casualties. His remains were buried in Polygon Wood Cemetery.

1/5 Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment , (The National Archives, KEW (TNA), WO 95/2805/2). https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14303 Autre référence

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/480027

Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=f67e594d-7fe6-4307-a3dd-9f2c720d69ed

Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/1320278