James's Story.
James Devine was born on 23rd February 1887 in Frederick Street, Birkenhead, his parents were James Devine (Senior) and Mary (Gaston) Devine, both from Ireland, who had emigrated to Birkenhead. James joined the Army after the turn of the century. On the 1911 census he was recorded as a Lance Corporal in the 2nd Battalion, the Royal Irish Fusiliers stationed in Quetta, India (now Pakistan).
1911 census showing James listed as a Lance Corporal in the Royal Irish Fusiliers
In 1914 just as the 1st World War was about to commence, James married Mary Ann Galloway in Birkenhead, Mary worked as a Domestic Servant in Curzon Road, Birkenhead for some time.
As James was still serving with the Royal Irish Fusiliers when war was declared in August 1914, his regiment, now the 1st Battalion, left shortly afterwards from Folkestone to Boulogne, France on 22nd of that month, before heading to Belgium to try to halt the German invasion of the Low Countries. The British Expeditionary Force dug in on the banks of the Mons Canal. James was recorded as a Lance Corporal at this time, although by the end of the war he was listed as a Private. He was gassed in 1917 and spent some time in the Canadian General Hospital in Boulogne.
Record of James as a patient in the Canadian General Hospital.
During this war the loss of men from the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers was huge, over 1,000 of the regular soldiers from the battalion died, from wounds, killed in action, also from diseases and illnesses caused by the appalling conditions in the trenches.
Private James Devine survived the 1st World War and afterwards was able to return to his family in Birkenhead. In recognition of his war service, he was awarded the 1914 (Mons) Star, the British Medal, and the Victory Medal.
James' medal index card.
By the time of the 1921 Census, James and Mary were living in the North End of Birkenhead and by then they had three children, Frances (1915), James (Jim - 1920) and Peter (1921). Another five children came along in the following years, Helen (1923), Margaret (1925), Kathleen (1927), Elizabeth (Betty - 1929) and Sheila (1931). James was working as a Stevedore at Birkenhead Docks for the Clan Line.
When he returned home James was a changed man. The horrors he had witnessed left him psychologically and physically scarred, today he would have been identified as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The effect of being gassed while on war service, contributed to his premature death from pneumonia in the Birkenhead General Hospital on 12th September 1932.
At the time of his death, James and the family were living at 77 Arthur Street, Birkenhead.
The family suffered further loss to war when James’s son Peter Devine served as a Fireman in the Merchant Navy during World War 2. He died tragically aged 21 in July 1942 when his ship ‘SS Gloucester Castle’, which had sailed from Liverpool was torpedoed by the German auxiliary cruiser ‘Michel’ off Capetown, South Africa. The captain and 92 passengers and crew were killed. Sixty-one survivors were rescued by the ‘Michel’ before being taken to Japanese Labour camps.
Mary Ann Devine (James’ widow) died in 1970.
James Devine, is buried in Flaybrick Cemetery, Birkenhead. He is remembered with affection by his family. A brave soldier who, although he survived and returned, died at a young age as a result of fighting for his country during the 1st World War.
The Cheshire Roll of Honour would like to thank David Smith for this story and tribute to his grandfather, Private James Devine.