I know he's not buried in any of them,
the thing is, Pat, you don't know whether he's actually buried in any of the nearby cemeteries (chances are that he is actually - most likely under a 'A Soldier of the Great War' headstone rather than just 'vanished') and, unfortunately, will probably never find this out 100%. Using nearby Villeret Old Churchyard as a quick example...out of 19 CWGC burials in there, several are of men of the 2/6th Manchesters who died on 21st March 1918. There also happen to be 5 'Unknowns' in there. There is every chance that one of these 5 contains the remains of James (but we'll probably never know for sure)... but the same could also be said for other nearby cemeteries.
dave
That's true. All the more reason for paying respects at all the nearby cemeteries. I have some RBL crosses to plant beside the graves.
I have found the entry in the London Gazette Issue 30476 supplements page 827 but no mention of citaction.
This has been a fascinating and
emotional couple of weeks for me. I've gone from thinking there was only one relative who served in WW1, to finding six more. Thomas Harding about whom I still can't find a trace. I'm going to have to elimate those on WGC website who are definitely NOT him and look for the resting places of any who might be him. Don't know which Regiment he served with and can't assume it would have been the Manchesters. George Elphick (another great uncle) was with the Liverpool Regiment, even though he was a Manchester man.
James Alfred was my father's uncle on his mother's side of the family. Dad was 4 years old in 1918. I wonder did he even
know about his WW1 service?
Pat