Morrison, James Duncan

No.1762 – Private James Duncan Morrison – 28^th Battalion AIF

James Duncan Drummond Morrison was born in Edinburgh Scotland on the 25^th November 1891 to James and Elizabeth Morrison. James was educated in Edinburgh and after leaving school he took up a 5 year apprenticeship in Carpentry. During these years he also saw service with the Territorials. In 1905 his parents had separated and he continued to live in Edinburgh. On the 14^th August 1913 James travelled to Western Australia with his mother. On arrival in WA they took up residence in Douro Rd South Fremantle and James soon found work locally as a Carpenter.
On the 12^th June 1915 James enlisted into the AIF and was accepted as fit for service. The medical examiner found James to be 5 feet 8 ½ inches tall; weight of 9 stone 12; chest measurement of 33-36 inches; fair complexion; blue eyes and brown hair. His religious denomination was Methodist. James was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was assigned to the 2^nd Reinforcements to the 28^th Battalion AIF. He had just over a month’s training with this group as on the 22^nd July 1915 the 2^nd Reinforcements boarded the HMAT Demosthenes in Fremantle Harbour and set sail for Egypt.

Upon arrival in Egypt in August the men were sent to the Base Details Camp and while the 2^nd Reinforcements went to Gallipoli it seems that James remained in Egypt. On the 18^th November 1915 he arrived at Mudros, off the coast of Gallipoli though he did not join the 28^th Battalion at Anzac. It seems that because evacuation plans were underway James remained at Mudros and only joined the 28^th Battalion after they came to Mudros.

On the 10^th January 1916 the 28^th Battalion returned to Alexandria and they would spend the next two months training and holding sections of the Suez Canal Defence Line. On the 16^th March 1916 the 28^th Battalion boarded a transport ship in Alexandria bound for France arriving at Marseilles on the 21^st March 1916. After being disembarked the men were put on to trains and sent to Northern France where they took up positions in the line at Fleurbaix. They remained in this sector until June 1916 and in July headed for the Somme.

The 1^st Australian Division captured Pozieres Village on 22^nd July and they were relieved by the 2^nd Division who would attempt to further the gains already made. On the 29^th July 1916 the 28^th Battalion took part in an advance against a well defended German position and they were cut down by heavy machine gun fire, James being among those who were killed. He has no known grave and is therefore commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial.