TAYLOR, James Raymond
| Service Number: | 2241 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Trooper |
| Last Unit: | 2nd Light Horse Regiment |
| Born: | Shepparton, Victoria, Australia, 11 July 1883 |
| Home Town: | Benalla, Benalla, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway employee |
| Died: | Wounds, France, 8 June 1917, aged 33 years |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Cobram Barooga RSL War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 9 Mar 1916: | Involvement Private, 2241, 4th Light Horse Regiment, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '2' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Katuna embarkation_ship_number: A13 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Mar 1916: | Embarked Private, 2241, 4th Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Katuna, Melbourne | |
| 8 Jun 1917: | Involvement Trooper, 2241, 2nd Light Horse Regiment, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 2241 awm_unit: 2nd Australian Light Horse Regiment awm_rank: Trooper awm_died_date: 1917-06-08 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
‘Ray” Taylor as he was known locally, was born in Shepparton and was a railway employee; he and his wife Catherine (nee Knight) were married in 1914 at "Tarnpirr" Barooga and living there when he enlisted on New Years Eve 1915. He was in the Light Horse and was acknowledged as one of the finest horseman in the Seymour Camp. His seat and skill in the saddle brought him prominent attention and when he arrived in London he was selected as one of a picked group to ride as an escort in the Lord Mayor’s procession through central London. Taylor was best mates with Jock Kennedy who was also in the Light Horse and killed in 1918.
Not all went smoothly for Ray though as he was awarded 20 days detention for striking his superior officer in June of 1916.
He arrived in France via England in January 1917. While serving with the 2nd Anzac Light Horse Regiment during the attack on Messines he received multiple gun shot wounds. “He had a very severe wound to his right arm and was suffering a great deal from shock and loss of blood” was the statement from a nurse. He died in the Casualty Clearing Station the next day on 8 June 1917, aged 33 and is buried in Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension France.
His wife Catherine Charlotte was granted a war widows pension of 2 pounds per fortnight. Her maiden name was Knight, her parents resided at “Tarnpirr” Barooga as well and she had already had to deal with the death of her brother Bertie Knight during 1916 and the severe wounding of another brother Hugh Knight of the same address in Barooga. A third brother, Stewart Knight also enlisted and died of gas related war wounds in 1926, aged only 36.
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