Born: 1897
Died: 1984
Buried:
Address: 23 Butt Lane, Idle
Parents:
Spouse: Alice, nee Peel
Siblings:
Occupation:
Organisations/clubs: Idle RUFC; Idle Working Men’s Club
Military
Rank: Pte
Medals/awards: Military Medal
Rolls of Honour:
Children: Wanda;
Regiment: West Yorkshire
James Briggs
He enlisted by lying about his age in 1914 (he was
17).
He was shot in the head in the Dardanelles where
he was strapped to a canon wheel for refusing to
urinate on a piece of cloth that acted as a gas mask.
He was one of only 150 of his 1,000-man regiment
who survived the bloody Battle of the Somme
(where he went temporarily missing in action
because he was partially buried in a shell hole).
He was also gassed in France, where he got trench
feet.
Later in the war he won the Military Medal for
rescuing an American tank crew trapped in the
mud of a French field.
I wrote a story about him in our newspaper in
Washington State, U.S., (I emigrated in 1958) on
the 60th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.
Married
Dad married my mother, Alice Peel, in the 1920s,
and moved to 13 Rawson Square, Idle, a few years
later.
He worked at Esholt until he retired; was a life-
long member of Idle Working Men's Club; had a
mother (Hannah Raistrick) who lived down Butt
Lane, Idle.
We moved to Moorhouse Ave., Five lane Ends
about 1947 and he died at the age of 87 in 1984.
Pte J Briggs of the Duke of Wellington’s Regt, of 23 Butt
Lane, Idle, joined the colours immediately after the
outbreak of war and when only 17 years of age.
He was one of the first in Idle to respond to the call of
King and country.
He fought at the Dardanelles, where he received a
shrapnel wound in the body.
He was formerly a prominent member of the Idle rugby
team and very popular among his fellows.
30 June 1916
Pte James Briggs, Duke of Wellington’s Regt, whose
parents reside at 23 Butt Lane, Idle, is reported
missing from October 12th.
Pte Briggs is 19 years of age and after serving at the
Dardanelles, was invalided home, afterwards being
drafted out to France.
Naturally Mrs Briggs is anxious about the welfare of
her son and would welcome any news concerning
him.
10 November 1916
Early research produced two cuttings about James’s war experiences
But then we heard from Wanda Jack Briggs, James’s daughter who now
lives in Washington State, USA, and she was able to fill in more details
