Private James Thomas Ferguson

PRE-WAR - James Thomas Jr was born in Burgersdorp, and grew up living in railway cottages on the Eastern Line, where the family later settled in Tylden, Cathcart until 1920. In the army records, James is noted as a previous Farmer, Blacksmith, and Police Officer.

POLICE & ARMY SERVICE

Resigned after 8 months service in "South Africa Police"(changed from Cape Mounted Police post-1913) according to army records. Did he resign from SAP to join the army in January 1916 which would suggest his service was most likely May/June 1914 to Dec/Jan 1915 which ties in with end of the SWA campaign July 1915. Even more poignantly, brother John Henry is killed in action June 1915, did James join after the news of his death? Or did he move from SAP to 8th Mounted Rifles(see below) but saw no active service before enlisting to army?

Service No. D4505, 8th Mounted Rifles Midlands Horse, B Squad - No Dates Given(however no military experience when attesting January 1916 so definitely not GSWA 1914-15, not awarded 1914-15 Star, and not referenced in newspaper article as serving in GSWA when two brothers are mentioned to have).

Service No. 8624, 11th South African Infantry, C Company - Served 15th January 1916 to 19th December 1916. Paid until 20th February 1917(East Africa)

Service No. 13158, 1st South African Infantry, 2nd Regiment - 14th March 1917 to 26th June 1920(France)

WW1 - East Africa - 'Served in Kilindini'. Attested in January 1916, aged 23. Recorded as a casualty following Malaria on 24th October 1916, returning to his regiment on 31st October. Re-admitted 8th November, but no record of discharge date but arrived back in South Africa on 12th December.

WW1 - South Africa & England - Struck off due to strength and transferred to Malarial Camp on 21st March 1917, one week after re-attesting. Discharged to Roberts Heights on 15th June 1917. Discharged to Duty on 27th. Embarked at Cape Town on 14th July 1917, arriving in England on 17th August. Re-admitted for Malaria on 17th September and discharged on 4th October. Embarked at Southamption, for France on 10th December. On 10th December, 1SAI were in Gouzeaucourt, France.

WW1 - France - Arrived in Rouen, France on 13th October 1917. The Record of Service states he was listed as 'Missing' on 24/03/1918, the same day that his brother Arthur was killed in action. A newspaper cutting that James' mother kept, lists him amongst those 'previously Missing, and now Prisoner of War', which he was for five months, before his repatriation to England on 20/08/1918.

WW1 - Repatriation to England - Between 21/08/1918 - 07/10/1919(14 months) he was in King George Hospital, London. It is recorded that two convoys of Prisoners of War arrived in August 1918, many in conditions that left much to be desired due to the insufficiency of proper food and treatment received in Germany. In many cases, the injuries were severe, and there were a number of amputation cases. James Thomas himself was 'wounded right arm and chest' by gun shot wound, and another newspaper clipping, confirmed that James was one of those amputation cases as he 'now lies seriously wounded in Richmond Hospital with the loss of his right arm'.

During his rehabilitation, James Thomas meets and marries a Military Tailor, in June 1919, and six months later, their first child was born.

In 1920 he was discharged, returning to Wynberg, Cape Town on 27/06/1920 - deemed medically unfit, specifically stating 'demobilisation'. His 'address after discharge' and 'final destination' was given as 'Post Office Cathcart' where his parents were living, but he would return to find that his parents had earlier on in that year successfully filed for separation. It's not known if he did in fact return to his parents and siblings but six months later James Thomas returns to his wife in the UK, and has a second child.

HIS WHEREABOUTS

In June 1921, a 28yr old(right age) bookkeeper(he was book keeping during rehab) James Thomas Ferguson of Richmond Road, Twickenham was charged with being drunk and disorderly, attempting to direct traffic.

Between 1923-1927 there is a James Thomas Ferguson of 35 Seymour Gardens, Richmond upon Thames(next door to an Amelia and James Read).

In 1932, there is a newspaper article detailing the drunk and disorderly behaviour of a James Thomas Ferguson of Sutton, Surrey. By this point we know his wife is living with her future husband and not James.

In 1936, he is at 20 Thicket Road, on the electoral roll. With Tree family, next door to the Rose family at 18(James' wife marries Tommy Rose).

1939 Register - James Thomas is not listed as a surviving child on his mother's Estate File in 1939 yet in the same year, appears on the pre-war England and Wales Register as a 'Navvy Heavy Work'(i.e. Labourer on Railway/Canals/Road) at 15 Thicket Crescent, Sutton, Surrey. Living with Leslie Guy Tree(1906-1976), his wife, two sons and two daughters. The eldest of the two daughters alive in August 2018, have confirmed he was known to them as 'Fergie' but couldn't recall any other details.

MYSTERY - James Thomas was not listed as a surviving child on his mother's Estate File in 1939, and was possibly presumed dead by his South African family.

A letter from 1991 to the South African 'Military Information Bureau' surfaced in 2015, written by an Andrea Ferguson(Andrea Piper). The letter requested further information on her paternal grandfather that she herself was told died young yet later found contradicting information that he had returned to SA in 1920's. The letter confirms James Thomas was 'billetted' at 120 Ellerdine Road, Hounslow, Middlesex and there he met a Margaret Fanny Read and they had a son in Richmond, Surrey(England) and his birth certificate is stamped with 'Military Pensions Office'.

Bearing in mind a newspaper cutting survived stating James was 'previously reported missing, now notified prisoner of war and wounded', plus a postcard delivery during his time as a POW, the family knew that he was not killed in the war, but there is a possibility that he never returned to the family in South Africa despite returning to the country for six months in 1919. If he headed to his family in Cathcart, South Africa, he may have returned to learn that his parents had legally separated a year earlier. Another alternative is that he returned to the family but lost contact after their move north to Johannesburg in 1920's, or due to his state of mind, he intentionally failed to make contact.

A shipping list, for the Armadale Castle arriving into Southampton, England from Durban, South Africa, shows the 27 year old traveling to England, arriving 3rd January 1921 and daughter Joyce was concieved c. Jan 1921 and born in October, although he does not appear on the 1921 Census, taken June 1921.

An email from Pamela Parke, daughter of James Robert, said "the only thing I know is that my Dad(James Robert), thought his Dad was dead, but his mother(known as Madge), told my mother that he'd run away to South Africa. He had a full sister who was two years his junior called Joyce Fowley. My sister assures me that she was a twin of herself in height face and hands and she knew her well as they lived for years in Spain."

DEATH

In 1967, and noted as a Labourer, James died in The Towers(Leicester Corporation Home For Old Men) in Kirby Muxloe, Leicester. Following his death, James' widower remarries months later, as she was said to be extremely religious and waited for James to pass before remarrying the man she lived with.