Atkinson, Private James Morton

Service highlights

  • Name: James Morton Atkinson
  • Rank: Private
  • Service number: 628581
  • Born: October 19, 1889, St. Marys, Ontario
  • Before service: Railway brakeman
  • Marital status: Single
  • Enlisted: British Columbia
  • Unit: 47th Battalion (Canadian Infantry)
  • Died: November 11, 1916, killed in action (France)
  • Burial: Courcelette British Cemetery, Somme, France (Grave X.F.19)
  • Record note: He was first reported “wounded and missing,” then later confirmed killed in action.

A Life and Service Remembered

James Morton Atkinson was born in St. Marys and, by the time war broke out, was living a working man’s life out west as a railway brakeman in New Westminster. He also belonged to a prewar militia unit, the 102nd Rocky Mountain Rangers, which meant military life was not an abstract idea to him long before he ever crossed an ocean.

His path into the CEF was not a straight line. He first enlisted on 12 April 1915, but was discharged shortly afterwards for reasons that are not explained in the record. Two months later, a recruiting party connected to the 104th Westminster Fusiliers accepted him, and on 25 June 1915 he enlisted with the 47th Canadian Infantry Battalion at Vernon, British Columbia. The appearance of A30956 on his papers alongside 628581 most likely reflects that change, an earlier enlistment and number that was later replaced when he was taken on again and formally posted to a different unit.

The 47th did not stay in Canada long. On 13 November 1915 they sailed from Montréal on the SS Missanabie and arrived in England on 22 November, heading to Bramshott where training shifted from drill-square soldiering to the hard realities of trench warfare. In the spring of 1916 the battalion was selected for the newly mobilized 4th Canadian Division, and on 11 August 1916 they arrived in France.

Not long after reaching the front, the 47th was sent forward to Belgium for what were described as “routine” tours in the line, the kind of routine that still involved danger every day. On 16 September 1916, James took part in a 25-man raid meant to seize prisoners for interrogation. Under a heavy barrage, the raiding party crossed no man’s land and got into the enemy trenches. There was a brief, violent melee. The patrol withdrew after suffering casualties, and at least eight Germans were killed as the rest of the raiding party pulled back.

On 3 October 1916 the 4th Division moved south to the Somme and took over a stretch of front northeast of Courcelette. A month later, the division was ordered to complete the capture of Regina Trench, a heavily fortified position that had already cost hundreds of Canadian lives. Heavy guns worked the German trenches and wire for two days, and shortly after midnight on 11 November 1916 the assault battalions, including the 47th, formed up roughly 150 yards ahead of their own trenches and went over the top. A full moon and clear sky helped the Canadians reach and clear the trench quickly, and prisoners were taken. The German response was immediate and punishing. Heavy shelling and machine-gun fire swept the position.

Somewhere in that storm, around 9 a.m., James was shot in the thigh. He was evacuated to the 10 Canadian Field Ambulance Advanced Dressing Station but died a few hours later, likely from shock and loss of blood. He was buried nearby, at a location referred to as the “Red Chateau” at Courcelette.

Even after his death, the war’s confusion followed him home. Reports and telegrams did not settle quickly. He was at different points described as having rejoined after treatment, then as wounded, then wounded and missing, then with no further information available, before the eventual confirmation that he had been killed in action. In March 1918 his body was exhumed from the battlefield burial and reinterred in Courcelette British Cemetery.

He was survived by his father, James Atkinson, and by siblings, including a brother, William, in Blanshard Township near St. Marys, and a sister, Serena Atkinson, who later lived in western Canada. Today, his name is memorialized on the cenotaph located in Rannoch, keeping him in public memory and carried forward with care.

Major battles and operations

  • Belgium front tours (1916), including the 16 September trench raid
  • Somme sector (from 3 October 1916), northeast of Courcelette
  • Regina Trench operations (11 November 1916)
  • Wounded and died near Courcelette (11 November 1916)
  • Final reinterment at Courcelette British Cemetery (March 1918)

Links and sources