BORN COTTINGHAM 1896. ENLISTED HULL. DIED AT HOME. ADOPTED SON OF HENRY & ADA EVANS, COTTINGHAM. HIS NAME IS RECORDED ON COTTINGHAM METHODIST CHURCH WW1 PLAQUE.
Hull Pals Memorial Post. PRIVATE JAMES MONTAGUE BARBER 21247. Born in 1896, James lost his parents before he had chance to know them and was adopted by Henry and Ada Evans of Newgate, Cottingham. A Gardener by trade, he enlisted on 17th November 1915, a few weeks before the passing of the dreaded Conscription Law. Originally joining the 7th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment he arrived in France on 23rd April 1916 and served with them until he was hospitalised with trench foot in February 1917. He was first removed to 34th Casualty Clearing Station at Rouen, then evacuated to Britain. On his recovery he returned to France and was transferred to the 11th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment on 27th July 1917. He served at Vimy and then Arleux, but was wounded at the latter and subsequently died on 10th September 1917. James Montgomery Barber, an orphan and only child, a Gardener from Hull, is buried at Roclincourt Military Cemetery; he was 20 years old.
