James Mooney
Jean Longstaff has submitted the following:-
Born in Darlington on 1st August 1879, James was the fourth of the six sons born to Irish labourer Charles Mooney and his Darlington born wife Elizabeth (nee Preston). James spent seven years as a bombardier in the Royal Field Artillery serving in the South African War. Back in Darlington at the turn of the century he married local girl Elizabeth Yeo in October 1900, and seven years later the two of them emigrated to the USA settling in Philadelphia where James found work as a tailor with the Philadelphia Tapestry Company. Their first daughter Catherine was born in 1909, followed by Elizabeth and Marie.
On 25th August 1917 James crossed the border between the US and Canada, and enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Toronto. He gave Elizabeth as his next of kin, wrote a will in her favour, and became Private 3030207 of “G” Company, 1st Depot Battalion, 1st Central Ontario Regiment, and his medical made note of his bad teeth that needed attention. In December 1917 before leaving Canada James was attached to the NCO Training Depot for four weeks. By mid April 1918 he was based at Witley Camp in England as part of the 8th Reserve Battalion, having sailed across the Atlantic on the SS Metagama. Four months later he was posted to the 54th Battalion on duty in France and he joined them on 7th September in billets near Neuville Vitasse. The end of the month saw the battalion in trenches near Incy where their objective was the taking of Bourlon Wood and they then moved up to support the 12th Battalion at the Douai / Cambrai Railway where “he took part in the attack between Haynecourt and Tilley, but was killed before reaching their objective”. Private 3030207 Mooney is buried in Cantimpre Canadian Cemetery, south east of Douai.
His name does not appear on any local war memorial.
In Canada he is remembered on their Virtual War Memorial and in their Book of Remembrance
Canadian Book of Remembrance
Canadian Virtual Memorial
The CWGC entry for Private Mooney
