Private James HOWARTH (F/2779)
23rd (Service) Battalion Duke of Cambridge’s Own (Middlesex) Regiment (2nd Football)

Date of birth: 17th February 1886
Date of death: 15th September 1916

Killed in action aged 30
Commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial Panel and Face 12D and 13B
James Howarth was born at Bolton in Lancashire on the 17th of February 1886 the son of James Howarth, a corporation labourer, and Elizabeth Howarth of 8 Bowness Road, Bolton.

He worked as a swimming instructor at Lancing College and boarded with the Sawyer family at 16 Alexander Terrace, Gordon Road, Shoreham.

He enlisted at Worthing as Private 2779 in the 23rd Battalion Middlesex Regiment on the 17th of November 1915. On enlistment he gave his age as 29 years old and at his medical on the 30th of December he was measured at five feet six inches tall. He was sent for training at Aldershot on the 3rd of January 1916 and arrived there the following day. On the 18th of March he was convicted of not complying with an order and of giving a false statement to the Commanding Officer. He was confined to barracks for seven days.

He landed in France on the 3rd of May 1916 and joined his battalion in the field. The second in command of the battalion at the time was Alan Haig-Brown, a former master at Lancing. On the 3rd of August 1916 he reported to the 140th Field Ambulance with broken dentures, was admitted to the Dental Section of the 2nd Australian Casualty Clearing Station the following day, and returned to duty on the 8th of August.

At 11pm on the night of the 14th of September 1916 the 23rd Battalion Middlesex Regiment moved forward from the village of Montauban and assembled in Carlton and Savoy Trenches for an attack on the village of Flers the following morning. By 1am on the 15th they were in position and at 6.20am the leading units went into the assault, led by tanks which were being used for the first time in the history of warfare.

The Middlesex men moved off at 10am. As they went forward they had to shelter from enemy shelling on a number of occasions. At midday they were ordered to take up positions at Scimitar Trench and they again moved forward under fire, with the battalion split either side of the Flers Road. By this time Flers itself had been taken but the situation in the northern part of the village was obscure. The battalion went into the attack and at 5pm they lost their Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel W.C.C. Ash, who fell wounded.

As the Middlesex advanced they met survivors from the leading battalions streaming back towards them. These men were rallied and together they reoccupied the German strong point know as the "Hogs Head". At 7pm they received orders to fall back to a line to the east of Flers, the retirement being complete by 7.30 and this position was held all night under heavy enemy fire. By time the battalion was relieved on the 17th of September they had lost nearly half their number in what had been their first engagement.

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