GRIMMER, JAMES
Rank:
Service No:
Date of Death:
Age:
Regiment/Service:
Grave Reference:
Text on stone:
Rank:
Service No:
Date of Death:
Age:
Regiment/Service:
Grave Reference:
Text on stone:
Serjeant
4122540
26/09/1944
32
Royal Northumberland Fusiliers
II. E. 17.
Far from those who love him.
in a hero’s grave he lies.
his loving wife and children
Additional Information:
Son of Charles Edward and Ellen Grimmer; husband of Beatrice Alice Grimmer, of Boughton, Chester.
Initially buried at Meerveldhoven where he died of wounds in the fieldhospital.
From the service records of James Grimmer, the following account can be reconstructed.
James Grimmer was born on 3 May 1912 in St Saviour’s, Rock Ferry, Cheshire. In civilian life he worked as a painter. He was described as being 5 feet 4 inches tall, with brown eyes and brown hair.
He enlisted in the British Army on 7 January 1931, joining the Cheshire Regiment. On 24 September 1938, he married Beatrice Alice Ball in Birkenhead. The couple had three children together.
James saw extensive overseas service during the Second World War. From 20 September 1939 until 31 May 1940, he served with the British Expeditionary Force in France. He later served in the Middle East from 19 May 1941 to 20 June 1943. This was followed by service in Sicily from 24 June 1943 until 15 November 1943.
After returning home on 18 November 1943, he remained in the United Kingdom until 29 June 1944. On 1 April 1944, he was transferred to the Durham Light Infantry, and on 8 June 1944 to the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers. From 30 June 1944, he served in North-West Europe.
James Grimmer died of his wounds on 26 September 1944, after more than a decade of military service and years of continuous wartime deployments.
Chesshire Observer 5 May 1945
Original gravesite at Meerveldhoven.