Sargent, James
1724 Driver, 3rd Battery, 2/1st North Midland Brigade, Royal Field Artillery
801364 Driver, 'B' Battery, 82nd Brigade, Royal Field Artillery
Born 4th June 1893 in Scotterthorpe
Son of Henry (a farm labourer from Tetney) and Sarah (nee Bird of Ulceby)
Mother died 10th January 1896 aged just 29
A Methodist
Attended Scotter School
Headmaster Charles Wakerley wanted him to continue his education and train to be a teacher
family circumstances meant he had to find work
Aged 17 was employed at the Scotterthorpe farm of Elizabeth and the late George Proudley
Before the Great War worked as a farm labourer at Graizelound near Haxey
Met Dorothy ‘Dolly’ Jane Berry of Haxey
‘wanted to have an adventure’
Against his father’s wishes, enlisted as a volunteer at Grimsby on 19th May 1915
Described as 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighing 126 pounds
Posted to Luton and Abbot’s Langley, Hertfordshire
Served in St. Albans as a groom
Sent to Ireland during the Rebellion of 1916
Returned to High Wycombe as the groom of an officer’s horses
Rode a white horse which he remembered with great affection
Highly regarded the officer offered him a job after the war (he later regretted not taking up the offer) and gave him the following reference:-
‘Has been employed part of his time assisting the shoeing smiths. He is a splendid groom and takes great care of his horses and is sober and very painstaking in all he has been asked to do’
posted to the Base Depot in France on 28th November 1917
Joined 82nd Brigade the following month
In battle went over a ridge with his pals and saw them all gunned down
On 24th August 1918 was one of 3 drivers of a horse drawn gun carriage which ran over a mine, one suffered 22 wounds and the other was shell shocked
James was uninjured and managed to round up the horses and get them and his fellow drivers back to base camp as a result he was awarded the Military Medal on 13th October 1918 ‘for bravery in the field‘
Gazetted 11th February 1919 his picture shows him wearing his Military Medal ribbon
Returned to England on 7th June 1919 and demobilized at Charlton on 11th July
Went back to his old job on the Epworth farm, regularly travelled to see Dolly at Leeds where she was working and married her at Haxey Church on 5th June 1922
Employed at Scunthorpe gas works on Doncaster Road and stayed rith the company until retirement
Bought a new house with a large garden on Buckingham Avenue in 1934 and loved his garden and also had an allotment on Normanby Road
Died 10th April 1983 aged 89 and cremated at Scunthorpe
Mother buried in the churchyard and father in Scotter Cemetery
Brother of John William