Lieutenant-Colonel R.B. James
5th Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment

It was a severe blow to hear from 5 E Yorks that Lt Col R.B., DSO, had been killed by shellfire. No one was with him at the time, but he was killed instantaneously … It would not be fitting here to attempt an expression of what the E Yorks must be feeling, or of their admiration of Col. James.

(HQ 69 Inf Bde Information Bulletin No. 31, 3 Aug 44)

Born in October 1912 in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Robert Brian James was a commissioned officer in the Essex Regiment since 1932. Before the Second World War, he had served in Palestine and later earned a Distinguished Service Order for bravery during the Anglo-Iraqi War in May 1941. Within two years, he would be awarded a pair of D.S.O. Bars for skillful leadership commanding the 5th East Yorks in North Africa and Sicily.

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