Name
James Walker Gittings
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
19/07/1916
28
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Lance Corporal
2594
Hertfordshire Regiment
1st Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
LE TOURET MILITARY CEMETERY, RICHEBOURG-L'AVOUE
III. J. 11.
France
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Hatfield War Memorial, Hertfordshire Regimental Memorial, All Saints Church, Hertford
Pre War
Son of Mr. and Mrs. C. Gittings, of The Priory Gardens, Abbots Leigh, Bristol.
In the 1911 Census: A James Walker Gittings, age 24, was working in Somerset as a journeyman gardener.
Officially recorded as born in Wotton-Under-Edge, Glos and was living in Abbots Leigh, Bristol when he enlisted in Hertford.
Wartime Service
Lance Corporal, Regiment: Hertfordshire Regiment, Number: 2594.
The Bishop’s Hatfield Parish Magazine of October 1914, in the second list of men mobilised from Hatfield, recorded: “Gittings, R. W. – Arm and Sword Yard – 1st Herts. Territorials.” Then in September 1916: “The death of Private James Gittings was a cruel blow to his parents and friends. He was not a native of Hatfield, but he had lived here four years before the war, and his services in the gardens at Hatfield House were greatly valued. Permission has kindly been given to publish the following letter:-
18/8/16.
"No doubt by this time you will have head from the War Office respecting your friend's death, Lance-Cpl. James Walker Gittings, on the 20/7/16. He was shot in the head by a German sniper, and he died immediately. His remains were buried in the British Cemetery on the Rue de Bois, near Festubert, and a cross has been placed over his grave. I should like to mention that he was a great friend of mine ever since he joined the Machine Gun Section, and I shall miss him very much. He was always cheerful and ready to do anything. Only a few days previous he did some good work with the gun by repelling a bombing attack made by the Germans, and his death has caused a gap in the Section which I am afraid it will be hard to fill. The whole of the Section and myself deeply sympathise with you in your sad loss, and it may be some consolation to you to know that he died a hero's death, fighting for his country.
Cpl. Johnstone"
Awarded the Victory Medal, British War Medal, 1914 Star.
Additional Information
James is mentioned in a very thorough biography for Jack Alfred Willmott by Paul Johnson, which appears in the website’s Archive section at: http://www.hertsatwar.co.uk/archives/hertfordshire-men-women-individuals-stories/jack-alfred-willmott-biography/
Acknowledgments
Jonty Wild, Christine & Derek Martindale, Hatfield Local History Society (www.hatfieldhistory.uk)
