James Cragg

'B' Coy 4th Bn South Staffordshire Regiment James was a Special Reservist (see 'Extra information'). James was killed in action on 24 March 1918, three days after the start of the German Spring offensive. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Arras Memorial, France (Panel 6). CWGC - History of the Arras Memorial (extract): The Memorial, which commemorates 34,744 casualties who have no known grave, is in the Faubourg-d'Amiens Cemetery, Arras. 'The French handed over Arras to Commonwealth forces in the spring of 1916 and the system of tunnels upon which the town is built were used and developed in preparation for the major offensive planned for April 1917 ... (The Arras Memorial) commemorates almost 35,000 servicemen from the United Kingdom, South Africa and New Zealand who died in the Arras sector between the spring of 1916 and 7 August 1918, the eve of the Advance to Victory, and have no known grave. The most conspicuous events of this period were the Arras offensive of April-May 1917, and the German attack in the spring of 1918.' (www.cwgc.org)

CWGC additional information: 'Husband of Harriet Cragg.' Nottingham Evening Post Roll of Honour 24 March 1918: 'Cragg. Killed in action Pte. James Cragg. Deeply mourned. Duty nobly done. - From son Harry, Nellie, sisters in law Clara, Kate, brother Joe.' 'Cragg. Killed in action Pte. James Cragg. - From his sister Esther and Tom.' Special Reserve: This was a form of part-time soldiering, in some ways similar to the Territorial Force. Men would enlist into the Special Reserve for 6 years and had to accept the possibility of being called up in the event of a general mobilisation and otherwise undertake all the same conditions as men of the Army Reserve. Their period as a Special Reservist started with six months full-time training (paid the same as a regular) and they had 3-4 weeks training per year thereafter. A man who had not served as a regular could extend his SR service by up to four years but could not serve beyond the age of 40. A former regular soldier who had completed his Army Reserve term could also re-enlist as a Special Reservist and serve up to the age of 42. Research by David Nunn