Johnson James Meston Pte 4459389

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Personnel Entry

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Name Johnson James Meston
Army number 4459389
Rank Private.
Decorations None known beyond Service Awards.
Date of birth Born 12/10/1917.
Age 59 at the time of his death.
Unit Enlisted in The Durham Light Infantry at Darlington on 17/1/1940. Posted to the 12th Battalion DLI. Transferred to the Black Watch 1/2/1940 and posted to the 1st Tyneside Scottish. Served with the B.E.F. in Northern France. Wounded and taken Prisoner of War - probably 20/5/1940, although the exact date is not recorded. Repatriated as part of a group of wounded to the UK. Discharged under King's Regulations 1940 Para 390 (xvi) 1/9/44 as unfit for further service due to the severity of his injury.
Company/Battery C Company.
Platoon or other sub-unit Not yet known.
Task or role Not known but probably Rifleman.
Joined Brigade 17/1/1940.
Promotions None known.
Wounded Yes - right arm injured in the battle for Ficheux and Mercatel and subsequently amputated.
Prisoner of War Yes - held in Stalag VIII B, PoW Number 37.
Died/Killed in action Date of death 23/1/1977 aged 59.
Home address Father - William Charles Johnson (1873 - 1958). Mother Annie Meston (1877 - ? ). Lived at 52, Hawes St. Newcastle 4. Worked as a time-served Painter and Decorator - a career to which he returned post-war, despite being right-handed and having lost his right arm. Married Sylvia Mary Bond at St Stephen's Church, Scotswood Road, Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne.
Source table 1TS

James in the front row, second from left in PoW Group 1
James in the middle of second row in PoW Group 2
C Company 13th April 1940