HIGGINBOTTOM, JAMES
Rank:
Service No:
Date of Death:
Age:
Regiment/Service:
Grave Reference:
Text on stone:
Fusilier
3608372
02/10/1944
21
The Royal Scots Fusiliers 6th Bn.
II. D. 18.
Not just today but every day
in silence we remember Agnes and Mick
Additional information:
Son of James and Ellen Higginbottom; nephew of Mrs. A. Melody
Died of wounds in the fieldhospital at the village of Meerveldhoven where he was initially buried.
Original graves at Meerveldhoven
From the service records of James Higginbottom, the following account can be reconstructed.
James Higginbottom was born on 8 October 1923 in St. Patrick’s, Bolton. Before his military service he worked as a window cleaner. His physical description notes that he was 5 feet 2⅝ inches tall, with brown eyes and dark brown hair. He was unmarried.
James enlisted in the British Army on 28 April 1942 in Bolton, joining the Border Regiment. After completing his training, he was posted overseas and entered the North-West Europe theatre on 27 June 1944, shortly after the Normandy landings.
As the campaign progressed and units were reorganised to meet operational demands, James was transferred on 26 August 1944 to the Royal Scots Fusiliers. He continued to serve on the front line during a period of intense fighting as Allied forces advanced through France and into Belgium.
James Higginbottom was wounded in action and later died of wounds on 2 October 1944.
He is remembered as a young soldier from Bolton who served with both the Border Regiment and the Royal Scots Fusiliers, and who gave his life during the liberation of North-West Europe in the Second World War.
