Coldstream Guards, 1st Battalion, Service no. 2658758
Born: 1st December 1917. Son of James Ackroyd and Alice Mosby
Killed in action: between 31st May 1940 and 2nd June 1940, at Dunkirk, aged 22
Story
James and his parents lived at 13 Cliff Crescent before the War, and his parent moved to the Blue Anchor during the War. James worked at the Allerton Bywater Colliery before the War, and was the winner of several local singing competitions. He joined the Coldstream Guards early in 1939, and was involved in the retreat of the British Expeditionary Force from France. Both the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Coldstream Guards were engaged in the heavy fighting during the last days of the evacuation from Dunkirk. The 1st Battalion at Furnes held out against determined German attempts to break into the perimeter, until they were ordered to retire to the beaches on 1st June (pictured below left). On the west of the perimeter, the 2nd Battalion held a position for four days against increasingly heavy attacks, until ordered to withdraw into Dunkirk as part of the Rear-Guard of the British Expeditionary Force. They finally embarked for England on the evening of 2nd June (pictured above right). In this short campaign, each Battalion suffered nearly 200 casualties, including James. However, he was initially posted as missing, and no further news was heard about James for nearly two years. On 13th May 1942, his parents were eventually told that he was presumed deceased.
James has relatives from Kippax (Samantha Nicholson-Hickling and David Nicholson), who found that he had been buried in the Veurne Communal Cemetery Extension in Belgium, B.3. and visited his final resting place.
Kippax Roll of Honour 