Pte 22885 James Wibberley

• Age: 30
• From: Liverpool
• Regiment: 13th Kings
• Died on Thursday 12th April 1917
• Commemorated at: Arras Memorial
  Panel Ref: Bay 3

James Wibberley was born in Liverpool on 04th April 1887, the son of James Wibberley and his wife Margaret Ann (nee Bowman) who married in Liverpool in 1887. Father was born in Liverpool, mother in Kendal, Westmorland.James was baptised in St. Peter’s Church, Liverpool on 20^th April. His parents were living in Field Street, and his father is employed as a carter. James was the first born of nine children; siblings William, Margaret, Joseph and Walter. Sister Edith died age 2, and three others died in infancy.

In the Census of 1891 James is 4 years old, living with his father and multiple members of his father’s family at 61 Field Street. His mother is not listed in the household.

In 1901 the family is living at 13 Craven Street. His father is a carter. James is 13.

His father died age 42 in 1909.

In 1911 his widowed mother is head of household at 53 Parton Street, Fairfield, Liverpool. James is 23, single, and working as a barman for Threlfall’s Brewery. All surviving siblings, William, Margaret, Joseph, and Walter, are in the household.

James enlisted in Liverpool on 9^th November 1914, joining the 20^th Bn KLR as Private 22885, giving his age as 26 and six months [He was 27], and his occupation as a clerk. He is described as being 5’6” tall and weighing 119 lbs, with brown eyes and light brown hair. 

He embarked for France with his battalion on 7/11/1915.

He was wounded in action on 30^th July 1916 and the next day was admitted to hospital in Rouen with a gunshot wound to the head and neck. He was transferred to England on 4/8/1916 on a hospital ship and admitted to the Cambridge Hospital. The medical report states, “Metal fragments in the left temporal region, and laceration of the left ear. These were removed – one fragment of shrapnel and some shreds of blackened tissue, probably cloth. He went to Henley East Auxiliary Hospital 22.8.16. He returned here and was discharged quite well”. He spent 45 days in hospital and was discharged on 19^th September 1916.

He was posted to the 3^rd Bn on 29/9/1916 and to the 1^st Bn on 19/12/1916.

He disembarked in France on 20/12/1916 and was posted to the 1st Bn in Etaples.

Finally posted to the 13^th Bn on 23/12/1916.

To 42 Field Ambulance on 3/2/1917 and returned to duty on 4/2/1917

He was killed in action, serving with the 13th Battalion, according to SDGW on 12/04/1917 though CWGC shows 13/04/1917. He had just past his 30th birthday when he was killed.

His body was not recovered from the battlefield or was subsequently lost as his name is recorded on the Arras Memorial in France.

The ARRAS MEMORIAL commemorates almost 35,000 servicemen from the United Kingdom, South Africa and New Zealand who died in the Arras sector between the spring of 1916 and 7 August 1918, the eve of the Advance to Victory, and have no known grave. The most conspicuous events of this period were the Arras offensive of April-May 1917, and the German attack in the spring of 1918. Canadian and Australian servicemen killed in these operations are commemorated by memorials at Vimy and Villers-Bretonneux. A separate memorial remembers those killed in the Battle of Cambrai in 1917. Both cemetery and memorial were designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, with sculpture by Sir William Reid Dick. The memorial was unveiled by Lord Trenchard, Marshal of the Royal Air Force on the 31 July 1932 (originally it had been scheduled for 15 May, but due to the sudden death of French President Doumer, as a mark of respect, the ceremony was postponed until July). 

The family placed a notice in the Liverpool Echo on 1^st May 1917:

“April 13, killed in action, Private J. Wibberley, K.L.R. (late with Messrs. Threlfall’s), the dearly-beloved and eldest son of Margaret and the late James Wibberley, of 53 Parton Street, Fairfield. – Deeply mourned by Mother, Sister, and Brothers".

His mother lived to the age of 81 and died in 1949, still living at 53 Parton street

James is commemorated on the Liverpool Town Hall, Hall of Remembrance Panel 32 right.

We currently have no further information on James Wibberley, If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.