Campbell, James
Rifleman
No. 105, ‘A’ Company, 13th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
Killed in action on Thursday 16 August 1917 (aged 25)
No known grave
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium (Panel 138 to 140 & 162 to 162A & 163A)
Donaghadee and District War Memorial
Donaghadee Parish Church of Ireland Church
Donaghadee Blue Banner Total Abstinence LOL 781 Memorial Plaque
Brother-in-law of FWW Casualty: Private Samuel James Reid (No. 9869)
Father of SWW Casualty: Trooper John Bennett Campbell (No. 7012451)
BIOGRAPHY
In the Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914 – 1919 database it is recorded that Rifleman James Campbell (No. 105) was born in Donaghadee, lived in Donaghadee and enlisted in Belfast. He served with the 13th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles in 108th Brigade of the 36th (Ulster) Division and was reported to be 25 when he was killed in action on 16 August 1917 at Langemarck during the Third Battle of Ypres.
Research to date has not confirmed a date of birth for James Campbell.
James Campbell and Maggie Reid were married on 21 May 1915 in Newtownards Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Mark’s). James Campbell (aged 23), a soldier (No. 105) from Clandeboye Camp, was stated to be a son of James Campbell (a sailor). Maggie Reid (aged 20) from Newtownards was stated to be a daughter of Samuel James Reid (a labourer).
Maggie Reid, a daughter of Samuel James and Matilda Reid (nee Birch), was born on 28 March 1895 in Carrowdore, and she was five when her mother Matilda died on 14 April 1900. Aged 19, Maggie had a son, Samuel George McAlpine Reid, who was born on 19 September 1914 at James Street, Newtownards.
James and Maggie Campbell (nee Reid) had one child:
John (later known as John Bennett Campbell, born 16 February 1917 at Meetinghouse Street, Donaghadee; he died of wounds during the Second World War on 7 August 1944)
Initially Rifleman James Campbell (No. 105) was posted as missing in action in August 1917, and when his wife Maggie was officially informed in April 1918 that James must be presumed to have been killed in action, she and her children were living at 16 West Street, Newtownards. It was there that the widowed Maggie Campbell (nee Reid), had another son:
Frank Lewis (born 24 October 1918 at West Street, Newtownards)
In April 1918 Maggie Campbell placed a For King and Country notice in the Newtownards Chronicle and it contained the verse:
The news was sad, the blow was hard,
God’s will it must be done;
With a manly heart he did his part,
My dear beloved James.
He fell at his post, like a soldier brave,
He answered his Master’s call;
He sleeps far away in a hero’s grave,
For his country’s cause he did fall.
In the pride of life death claimed him,
In the pride of his manhood days;
None knew him but to love him,
None mentioned his name but with praise.
In August 1918 Maggie placed an Our Heroes – In Memoriam notice in the Newtownards Chronicle and it contained the verse:
One by one the links are slipping,
One by one our heroes fall;
And you, my darling husband,
Have answered the great Roll Call.
A loving father, true and kind,
Loved by those he left behind,
Forget him! No, we never will.
As time rolls on we love him still.
Rifleman James Campbell (No. 105) has no known grave and he is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial in Belgium; on Donaghadee and District War Memorial; on the Donaghadee Blue Banner Total Abstinence LOL 781 Memorial Plaque, and in Donaghadee Parish Church of Ireland Church.
Maggie Campbell (nee Reid) and John Graham were married on 10 October 1919 in Newtownards Registrar’s Office, and, according to a family source, they had eight children:
James (born 17 May 1920 at West Street, Newtownards; died 8 December 1920)
Matilda (born 19 September 1921 at west Street, Newtownards)
Daniel (Danny, born 7 May 1923)
James (Jimmy, born 7 May 1923)
Agnes Jane (born 23 July 1925)
Hugh (born 1927)
Martha (born 26 July 1928)
William (Billy, born 21 June 1932)
Maggie Graham (formerly Campbell, nee Reid) died on 23 December 1977, and was buried in Movilla Cemetery, Newtownards.