LIEUTENANT JAMES REID
THE LOYAL NORTH LANCASHIRE REGIMENT
8TH OCTOBER 1918 AGE 36
BURIED: ST SEVER CEMETERY EXTENSION, ROUEN, SEINE-MARITIME, FRANCE
It looks to me as though James Reid was already serving with the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment when the war broke out. My evidence for this is slim but Reid served with the 1st Battalion, which was the Regular Army battalion. His inscription refers to four years of war. This could mean that he volunteered in 1914. However, on 2 December 1915 the London Gazette reported, "Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, Serjeant-Major James Reid to be Second Lieutenant. Dated 23 December, 1915." Reid could have been a volunteer but to be a serjeant-major in December 1915 suggests he was a regular soldier with pre-war service.
Reid died of wounds in hospital in Rouen on 8 October 1918. There's nothing to say how or when his wounds were incurred. The 1st Battalion the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment fought on the Western Front throughout the war, taking part in virtually all the major battles from Mons to the Sambre. Prior to 8 October their most recent engagements had involved the attacks on the St Quentin Canal between 29 September and 2 October. James Reid might have been wounded here, after "four years of weary war". Reid's wife, Louisa Reid, chose his inscription. Their is no hint of triumphalism or heroism about it.