Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

James Jacobus Roelants was born in Schiedam, Holland in 1872.

He enlisted in Merridin, WA, on 14 March 1916 with the 4th Reinforcement, 51st Battalion AIF. At the time of enlistment, he was 44 and working as a farm labourer. He was given service number 2235. He embarked from Fremantle, WA, aboard HMAT A28 Militiades on 9 August 1916. He had no family in Australia, so he listed his friend John Jeffrey Taylor as his next of kin. He was unique because he was the only person with the surname Roelants in the entire 1st AIF.

He disembarked at Plymouth, England, on 25 September 1916 and was marched into the 13th Training Battalion at Rollestone. Upon arrival in England, James transferred to the 44th Battalion on 27 October 1916. The 44th Battalion was part of 11th Brigade of the 3rd Australian Division and had only recently arrived in England. It was yet to see any service in France.

He proceeded to France on 25 November 1916 when the entire 44th Battalion left Larkhill and entrained for Southampton. The battalion disembarked at Le Havre and marched to the Rest Camp at Sanvic. By 28 November 1916, the battalion had travelled to Steenwerck and was billeted there in reserve.

It remained at Steenwerck until 23 December 1916, when it moved to Armentieres. On 30 December, the battalion moved into the line for the first time. From 1 to 5 January, the battalion was in the trenches, sending out daily wiring parties to strengthen No Man’s Land defences. The battalion suffered its first casualties, with five men killed by minenwerfers during this tour.

On 6 January, the battalion returned to the reserve before returning to the front line to relieve the 42nd Battalion on the 10th. That night, the battalion conducted a successful trench raid. The raiders entered the trenches under cover of an artillery barrage and suffered only a few minor casualties.

On 17 January, the week in the front line was over, and the battalion was relieved by the 42nd Battalion and returned to being the brigade reserve, providing working parties for trench repair. Working in the trenches was hazardous duty, and the battalion War Diary recorded casualties in the working parties on 19 and 21 November.

The battalion returned to the front line on 24 January and was subjected to enemy shelling, which resulted in one killed and six wounded. Unfortunately, James Roelants was one of those wounded that day. His service papers recorded that he was wounded in action, suffering multiple gunshots to the chest, thigh and right and left forearms. These may have been wounds suffered from shrapnel. Regardless, he was taken to the 10th Australian Field Ambulance, part of the 3rd Australian Division. That day, the 10th Field Ambulance recorded the treatment of 36 casualties at their position in Armentieres, received from units in the area. After being patched up by the field ambulance, he was passed along to the 1st Australian Casualty Clearing Station, 14 kilometres behind Armentieres at Estaires, after which he was admitted to Hospital in Boulogne on 27 January 1917. On 7 February 1917, he was transported to England and admitted to Beaufort War Hospital in Bristol the next day.

Having sufficiently recovered from his wounds, he was granted a two-week furlough on 9 May 1917. Returning from furlough, he was deemed unfit to return to the front, so he returned to Australia on 22 July 1917 aboard HMAT A71 Nestor for home service due to his age.

He was discharged in Perth on 1 October 1917.

Post-war, he remained in Western Australia and became a farmer at Kellerberrin. He died on 29 September 1940.

He received the British War and Victory Medals for his First World War service.