More about James Christie

For reasons unknown this man is not listed on the original Dundee Roll of Honour, but is remembered on the Dundee Orphanage Roll of Honour.

James Christie   CZ/6249   Howe Bn – Drake Bn   Royal Naval Division

CHRISTIE―In loving memory of my dear brother, 6249 A. B. James Christie, Howe Battalion, R.N.D., who was reported killed on the 25th of March 1918. – Inserted by his loving sister and brother-in-law, Mr and Mrs Collins, 7 Alexander Street, Dundee.

Dundee People’s Journal 22nd March 1919

James Christie was the brother of Mrs Mary Collins of 7 Alexander Street, Dundee and he had lived for some time in the Dundee Orphanage. He was employed as an Apprentice Fitter when, in August 1915, he volunteered to join the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve for service in the Royal Naval Division. After initial Naval training at the Crystal Palace Depot in South London he went to Blandford Camp in Dorset for advanced military training in October 1915. On completion he was sent to the Middle East and joined the Howe Battalion which was reforming after the withdrawal from Gallipoli. After garrison duties he sailed with the Battalion to France in May 1916 to take part in the war on the Western Front. He served with the Howe Battalion though the Somme, Gavrelle, Passchendaele and Welsh Ridge without being wounded. He received some home leave in July 1917 and in February 1918 he was detached to the 7th Entrenching Battalion. Howe Battalion was disbanded in February and he then joined the Drake Battalion. During the German Offensive in late March 1918 he was first reported as wounded and then wounded and missing. His death in action was confirmed at the end of the war and is mentioned in the Peoples Journal on 28 November 1918. James Christie is named on the Arras Memorial and on the Dundee Orphanage Memorial.

Iain Stewart and Iain Birnie