Private James Rawsthorne   2293

10^th Kings Liverpool Regiment

The son of John and Margaret Rawsthorne of Elm Place was the younger brother to Thomas and John.

Jimmy volunteered but was turned down because of a neck deformity then known as ‘Torticollis’ making his head lean to one side. Keen to be accepted he had this operated on and was then accepted and drafted into the 10^th Battalion of The Kings Liverpool Regiment.

Just days before embarking for France James married Isabelle Pickering from Skelmersdale.

Jimmy went into battle in the Somme area. The action was designed to relieve the severe pressure that the French were under at Verdun.

On Easter Sunday 1916 he was wounded and then transported to a hospital at Doullens. He died there two days later on the 27^th April 1916 aged 37. Isabelle had given birth to their baby girl just four days earlier. She was to christen her Irene ‘Verdun’ Rawsthorne in his memory.

Private James Rawsthorne is buried in plot 1 row D, grave 14 of Doullens Communal Cemetery Extension, France. This lies to the South East corner of the town which is 35Km. South West of Arras.