James Payne

James was born in Eltisley on 10 June 1883 and was baptized in Eltisley Church on 19 August.  James was the son of Riseley and Elizabeth Payne and in the 1901 Census he was living in Caxton End, Eltisley, with his parents and younger sister Annie; James also had two older brothers and an older sister.

He enlisted in Lincoln in 1914, aged 31, in the 8th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, ‘D’ Company; the Petty Sessional Record states that James was living in Eltisley and was employed as a portable engine driver in Lincolnshire (this would have been an agricultural engine).

The 8th (Service) Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment was part of the 21st Division in September 1914. They were assembled around Tring and, after ‘arduous training’ at Leighton Buzzard over the winter, moved to Halton Park Camp, Wendover.

The Battalion reached Boulogne on 11 September, and, after lengthy marching to a position on the front line west of Loos, the men were engaged in fighting during the Battle of Loos.

Following the Battle of Loos, the 8th Lincolnshires moved to Armentieres and between October 1915 and March 1916 they were engaged in holding the line near there. That winter was very wet and low lying stretches of the trenches near Armentieres were often under water.

In March 1916 the battalion was moved south to the line at Fricourt, and received preliminary training for the Somme offensive which commenced on 1 July (The Battle of the Somme). Owing to the heavy casualties suffered on the Somme, on 8 July 1916 the 8th Lincolnshires were transferred with the rest of the 63rd Brigade to the 37th Division, and the battalion was moved to the part of the front line near Hannescamp and, after a short stay there, on to Beaumont Hamel (Battle of the Ancre Heights 1 October to 11 November 1916).

They were part of the 3rd Battle of Ypres, which included the Battle of the Menin Road and the Battle of Polygon Wood.

On 10 September 1917 James’ Battalion was in rest billets near Berthen; on 23 September they had Church Parade and a game of football; on 25 September they had a Horse Show in the afternoon. On 27 September they were moved into the Front Line in the Shrewsbury Forest sector (just south of Ypres), where they were under heavy shelling over the following week.

On 4 October 1917 (the Battle of Broodseinde), the day James was killed, the Battalion War Diary says: Battalion attacked at 6am. Attack unsuccessful. Casualties heavy.

James has no known grave. He is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the missing at Zonnebeke, near Ypres.

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