Gradwell, James
1272 Private James Gradwell - 32nd Battalion AIF
James Gradwell was born at Blackburn Lancashire England in 1882 to James and Mary Gradwell. He was one of several siblings, with Elizabeth, Robert, Agnes, Jane, Mary and John.
He grew up and was educated in Blackburn Lancashire, with the family living Burnley, Habergham Eaves, Lancashire, England. After leaving school James took up employment as a labourer but then joined the Army and served for twelve years with the East Lancashire Regiment. This service included South Africa in the early 1900's.
After leaving the Army, James returned to Lancashire but then decided to move to Australia, arriving in Fremantle just prior to the Great War.
James took up residence at Park House Fremantle which was a boarding house/hotel.
James had tried to enlist when the Great War began but was knocked back due to height restrictions. However he tried again, enlisting on the 16th July 1915. This time he was accepted and the medical officer recorded James's physical attributes as;
Height - 5 feet 3 & 1/2 inches tall;
Weight - 10 stone 2;
Chest Measurement - 33-36 inches;
Complexion - Dark;
Eyes - Brown;
Hair - Dark;
Distinctive Marks - Extensive tattoo marks on arms.
James listed his brother Robert as his Next of Kin. Upon his successful enlistment James was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was assigned to No.16 Depot Training Company. He did not have long there as he was soon transferred to "D" Company of the 32nd Battalion AIF.
The 32nd Battalion would have two companies formed in South Australia and two in Western Australia. The Western Australian Companies were transferred to Adelaide to join their South Australian counterparts in training. The South Australians took the WA boys into their hearts and homes and many lifelong friendships sprung up.
During training in South Australia James got into trouble twice, once at the Port Adelaide Rifle Range for breaking away from a musketry parade and secondly at Cheltenham Army Camp on the 4th November for going absent without leave for a day.
After completing their training in South Australia, James embarked from Adelaide on the HMAT Geelong which arrived in Suez on the 18th December 1915.
Many men of the 32nd Battalion would have been expecting to be sent to Gallipoli but as the Allies withdrew from Anzac Cove and Suvla on the 20th December, the 32nd Battalion, along with the other three battalions of the 8th Brigade were kept in Egypt. Their duties entailed protecting the Suez Canal from Turkish forces as well as undertaking further training. Three new divisions of the AIF were about to be formed and the 8th Brigade joined up to the 5th Division.
The 32nd spent the first 6 months of 1916 in the Egyptian desert. In May 1915 James was hospitalised with eye issues but soon returned to his unit. It would have been a huge relief for James and the 32nd Battalion when they received their orders to proceed for France. They arrived in Marseilles on the 23rd June and immediately embarked for Northern France.
James didn’t have much time to get used to the front line as they were immediately sent into the debacle at Fromelles where the 32nd Battalion was almost wiped out. James took part in the initial assault on the German trenches and was able to get into them before he was wounded in the leg by a closely exploding shell. The shell also concussed him quite badly as he was bleeding from both ears.
With the flanks open the Germans were able to surround the Australians, and being unable to move back to his own lines James was captured by the Germans and became a Prisoner of War.
James received first aid from the Germans and was eventually sent to hospital where his leg wound was treated. James would remain a prisoner for the duration of the War. When the Armistice was signed in November 1918 James was repatriated back to England but did not arrive there till the 1st January 1919.
He was then given a months leave and upon his return in February 1919 was sent to No.2 Command Depot Camp in Weymouth. He would spend the next few months based here while waiting to be assigned a berth on a transport ship back to Australia.
On the 15th May 1919 James embarked upon the transport ship Orontes in Devenport Harbour and set sail for home, reaching Adelaide on the 26th June 1919. James was then returned to WA from Adelaide and was given a full medical examination at No.8 Australian General Hospital in South Terrace Fremantle. He was discharged from the AIF on the 16th September 1919.
On September 7th 1919 James wrote to the Army Authorities requesting a position with the Australian or Imperial Graves Service in France. As all his family were in England James wanted to return home, plus the fact that his brother had been killed in the war on March 22nd 1918 with the 1st Battalion Royal Fusiliers.
James was able to return home to England in August 1920.
James Edward Gradwell lived in England for many years and in the 1950's returned to Western Australia before settling in New Zealand.
James died in New Zealand on the 19th December 1968 aged 86.