MCADAM, James
| Service Number: | 2431 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 24 January 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 4th Pioneer Battalion |
| Born: | Mackay, Queensland, Australia, 15 August 1891 |
| Home Town: | Mackay, Mackay, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Mackay, Queensland, Australia |
| Occupation: | Carter |
| Died: | SW to abdomen, near Amiens, 5/6/1918, Daours, France, 5 June 1918, aged 26 years |
| Cemetery: |
Daours Communal Cemetery Extension, France Daours Communal Cemetery Extension (Plot III, Row C, Grave No. 31), France, Daours Communal Cemetery Extension, Daours, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Mackay Cenotaph, Mackay Old Town Hall Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 24 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2431, 4th Pioneer Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 8 Aug 1916: | Involvement Private, 2431, 4th Pioneer Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Itonus embarkation_ship_number: A50 public_note: '' | |
| 8 Aug 1916: | Embarked Private, 2431, 4th Pioneer Battalion, HMAT Itonus, Brisbane | |
| 25 Aug 1917: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 2431, 4th Pioneer Battalion, SW to back, head and left arm | |
| 5 Jun 1918: | Wounded Private, 2431, 4th Pioneer Battalion, Died of wounds in France at 26 years old |
Help us honour James McAdam's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Evan Evans
AIF Project claims: Age 16 years, 10 months at death
From François Berthout, Australia and NZ in WWI
Today, it is with great gratitude that I want to pay a very respectful tribute to Private number 2431 James Mc Adam, brave son of Australia who fought in the 4th Battalion of the Australian Pioneers and who died of his wounds 102 years ago,on June 5, 1918 at the age of 26 on the Somme front.
James Mc Adam was born on August 15, 1891 in Mackay, Queensland and he was the son of Christopher and Jane Mc Adam and they lived in River Street, Mackay, Queensland.James was educated in Mackay and before the war he worked as a carter.
Enlisted on January 24, 1916 at the age of 24 in the 4th battalion of the Australian Pioneers, Reinforcement 4, he embarked with his unit from Brisbane, Queensland on board HMAT A50 Itonus on August 8, 1916 and sailed for England where he was disembarked on October 18, 1916 in Plymouth to receive his training then embarked with his unit on board the Princess Victoria from Folkestone, England on December 4, 1916 for France and was disembarked in Etaples, France, on December 5, 1916.
on January 24, 1917, James arrived with his unit in Belgium where he fought and was wounded on August 25, 1917 by a shrapnel in the back and head then he was evacuated to England where he was treated and was sent back to France on January 29, 1918 where he joined his battallion on the Somme front.
Unfortunately, five months after arriving in the trenches of the Somme, James was wounded a second time on June 5, 1918 near Amiens, Somme, by a shrapnel in the abdomen and was evacuated to Daours, Somme, where he died of his wounds a few hours later at the age of 26.
Today, James McAdam rests in peace with his brothers in arms at the Daours Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription "A better son or brother never lived rest in peace dear".
James, today it is with a grateful heart that I want to honor your memory and remember you with respect, you who have gone through the horrors of war, you were the witness of a generation of heroes, of a youth that was mowed in the trenches and on the battlefields of the Somme, facing every day a deluge of bullets and shells on the battlefields on which so much blood was shed and so many lives were shattered in the mud .You have done your duty with much bravery, carrying in your heart the love of your family and the hope of a peaceful world, fighting united with your friends, for Australia and for France, two united countries for which you gave your life, for peace and freedom, we will be eternally grateful to you and I, a young Frenchman living here, on these sacred lands on which you fought, I have the privilege and the honor to be able to be there for you, to live near you,with you, it is a privilege to be in contact with your families and to share your stories, the story of the men you were, today, you are my heroes and the Somme will never forget you, you will always be alive through us and you will always have in my heart the greatest of respect. In our hearts and in our thoughts today, tomorrow, forever, your names will never disappear. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember him, we will remember them.🌺
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