Pte 308710 James Bateson

James was born in the June quarter of 1898 at 3 White Ash, Birtle-Cum-Bamford, Heywood, the son of Hugh Walter Bateson and his second wife Elizabeth (nee Cross) who married at the Old Fylde Register Office in September 1889. This was just weeks after Hugh's first wife Mary Jane Fitton had died aged 32 in childbirth leaving him with a baby Arthur William, a few weeks old, and 5 other children all under 10. They had married in 1877 at St Michael's, Kirkham.

 

His mother died in the December quarter of 1909, aged 42, her death was registered in Bury. James was just 11 years old.

 

The 1911 Census shows the family are living at a new home at 4 Pleasant Street, Hooley Bridge, Heywood. It shows his widowed father aged 57 employed as a general labourer, living with ten of his children. Arthur William aged 21 is a cotton warehouseman,  Alfred aged 17 is described as a chemist assistant, Henry aged 17 is a cotton spinner, Robert 16 is a bleacher in a dye works, John aged 15 is an assistant in an ironmongers, James aged 13 is shown as an office boy in a cotton weavers, George W. is 10 and is a schoolboy, Mary Jane aged 7 is also at school, as is Frank aged 6, Walter is 3 years of age.

James was aged 18 when he enlisted in Bury. He served as Private 308710 in the 18th Battalion of The King's Liverpool Regiment. After training he served overseas on the Western Front. 

His brother Robert won the D.C.M. and the award was reported in the Heywood Advertiser on 08th December 1916

 

On 31st July 1917 James was killed in action, aged 19, at the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele). 

18^th Battalion

On this day, before Zero Hour, the 18^th Battalion was part of 21^st Brigade and was to form up for the attack from trenches from the area of Sanctuary Wood to Observatory Ridge but it was dark and continually falling rain gave very poor visibility. The departure of the 21^st Brigade was delayed by heavy shelling.

The 18^th King’s began to move forward in the rear of the 2^nd Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment who had been detailed as the left attacking battalion of the 21^st Brigade.

No’s 1 and 3 Companies of the King’s led the way followed by No’s 2 and 4. In Sanctuary Wood there was considerable confusion, as a result No.2 and No.4 Companies became separated from the others, and were moved over to the left flank towards positions known as Surbiton Villas and Clapham Junction in the direction of the 90^th Brigade.

No.1 and 3 Companies were soon in action with the enemy, and were for a time, held up against an enemy strong point. They pushed forward with their right on a trench known as Jar Row and their left on the tramway south of Stirling Castle. Advance along Jar Row was held up by the Germans who put up a fierce resistance and the party was forced to withdraw.

Another group of men from No.1 and No.3 Companies led by 2^nd Lieutenant Graham were being held up by another strongpoint which was south of Stirling Castle, which was eventually stormed and taken.  Not far away from this action,  an attempt, by other men of No.1 and No.3 companies, was made to penetrate a broad belt of uncut wire, but this was covered by Machine-guns which killed almost every man attempting to pass through the two gaps that were discovered.

The situation was similar with No.2 and 4 Companies, who had attacked along the wrong axis. Their advance was met with fierce opposition, and once all the experienced officer’s had been killed or wounded, all cohesion was lost, although some men did reach and cross the Menin Road at Clapham Junction.

By that time, the situation had become extremely confused, and the whereabouts of all four companies being unknown to Battalion Headquarters, urgent attempts were made to discover their locations. Eventually by mid- afternoon, it was established that the bulk of the companies, although all mixed together, were dug in the vicinity of Stirling Castle and by mid evening, the Battalion Headquarters moved forward to meet them.

During its time in the line the 18^th Battalion lost 7 officers and 76 men killed or died of wounds and 7 officers and 177 men wounded. They were relieved on the 2^nd August.

His body was not recovered from the battlefield or was subsequently lost as he is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial. 

The site of the Menin Gate was chosen because of the hundreds of thousands of men who passed through it on their way to the battlefields. It commemorates casualties from the forces of Australia, Canada, India, South Africa and United Kingdom who died in the Salient. In the case of United Kingdom casualties, only those prior 16 August 1917 (with some exceptions). United Kingdom and New Zealand servicemen who died after that date are named on the memorial at Tyne Cot, a site which marks the furthest point reached by Commonwealth forces in Belgium until nearly the end of the war. New Zealand casualties that died prior to 16 August 1917 are commemorated on memorials at Buttes New British Cemetery and Messines Ridge British Cemetery.

The YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL now bears the names of more than 54,000 officers and men whose graves are not known. The memorial, designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield with sculpture by Sir William Reid-Dick, was unveiled by Lord Plumer on 24 July 1927.

James earned two medals; the Victory Medal and the British War Medal.  

Four sons of Mr H. W. Bateson, of 4 Pleasant Street, Hooley Bridge, have served in the forces and three have made the great sacrifice during the present year. The eldest son, Henry, joined the navy when he was 17 and was serving as a first-class Stoker on the Vanguard when the explosion took place on July 9th last, and he lost his life, he was 23 years old. The second son Robert was in the territorials and during the fighting in Gallipoli, he was awarded the distinguished conduct medal for his gallantry in rallying the men. His health was injured by the hardships of the campaign and he has been discharged. The third son John enlisted in the Manchester Regiment in October 1914, became a Lance Corporal and died of wounds on April 22nd last, he was 21 years old. Private James Bateson, the youngest of four sons enlisted in October last year in the King's Liverpool Regiment. He was reported as missing on July 31st of this year, and this has been followed by the official intimation that he was killed on that date. He was 19 years old. 

James' two brothers referred to in the report were:

John who died of wounds on 22nd April 1917 when serving as Lance Corporal 17822 in the 20th Battalion of the Manchester Regiment. He was 21 years of age and now rests at Euston Road Cemetery, Colincamps, France. 

Henry who on 09th July 1917 at Scapa Flow was a 1st Class Stoker No. K/12831 serving aboard HMS Vanguard. He was killed by an internal explosion and is commemorated at the Plymouth Naval Memorial. 

On 07th December 1917 his father Hugh Bateson was sent James's arrears of Army Pay of £2:4s:2d, followed by a War Gratuity of £3 on 11/11/1919.

The Heywood Advertiser of 28th December 1917 contained three notices concerning the deaths of the three boys:

Bateson Lce Corpl. John, Manchester Regiment, 4 Pleasant Street, Hooley Bridge, Heywood: died of wounds April 22nd

Bateson Pte. Jas. King's Liverpool Regiment, 4 Pleasant Street, Hooley Bridge, killed in action July 31st

Bateson First Class Stoker Henry, HMS Vanguard, 4 Pleasant Street, Heywood drowned in July     

 

Hugh Bateson lost three sons within three months in 1917; John, Henry and James while his other son who saw active service, Robert, was awarded the D.C.M. for bravery in Gallipoli. This was a family truly blighted by the war.

 

 

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