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Private James Draper 34504
9th Battalion The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment
Lived and worked for his parents at Slack House Farm, (opposite Edge Hill
Training College). He volunteered and was drafted into the 9th
Battalion The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment (foot).
At 4-30am on 10th April 1918, the regiment pressed
forward through the village of Croix du Bac and established themselves on the
north bank of the River Lys. This was at the very start of the big German Spring
Offensive of 1918.
At 7am the Battalion was forced to withdraw under
heavy machine-gun fire, suffering heavy casualties, including James. He received
a bullet wound in the leg and so could not retreat with the others.
On the 25th July 1918 James’ friend,
Bob Pennington wrote to Mrs Draper telling her what had happened to James. In it
he told her not to loose hope, as by now he had probably been taken as a
prisoner of war. However this turned out not to be so.
Private James Draper was buried in Croix du Bac
Cemetery, probably by the Germans and is commemorated on his own special
memorial No. G.17.
Croix
du Bac, Steenwerck, France is on the D10 just west of Armentiers.
