Nickname:
Password:
Son of Herbert and Florence Mackie; husband of Beatrice Mackie, of Hollingworth, Cheshire.


James was born in Lavender Hill, Clapham Q3 1907, the second surviving child of Herbert Thomas Mackie and Florence (née Ford - they had married Q4 1904, registered in the Lambeth District). The 1911 Census records the family living at 77 Landor Road, Stockwell. 29 year old Herbert is listed as a "Compositor" (or print typesetter). 32 year old Florence had been born in Birmingham. Their children were 5 year old Herbert junior and 3 year old James. (The original return notes that another child of the couple had died.)
The parents (with Herbert as a "Printers Reader Compositor" and Florence listed with the conventional "Unpaid Domestic Duties") were recorded in the 1939 Register living at 117 Walsingham Gardens, Stoneleigh. There is one currently closed record at the address - perhaps the couple's last child, Arthur born Q1 1915.
The 32 year old James is not found in that 1939 Register, and it seems likely that he was already in uniform as a Gunner with the 74 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery. Throughout WW2, the Regiment was an integral part of the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division. This first saw action in France in 1940 as part of the British Expeditionary Force readying to counter the expected German invasion. As is well known, the invasion when it came was of unanticipated speed and ferocity. James's Regiment was among those that made a fighting retreat to Dunkirk and he was among the survivors evacuated from Dunkirk in early June 1940.
Back in England, the Division and its constituent Regiments were made back up to full strength and re-equipped. During this period - in Q2 1941 - James married Beatrice Pernet in the local Surrey Mid-Eastern District. She had been born in Islington Q4 1908. The 1911 Census records her as the second of three children in the household of Alfred and Beatrice Pernet at 44 Ambler Road, Islington. Alfred is listed as a "Lithographer", so perhaps there was some printing trade connection between the two families. The 31 year old Beatrice junior is not readily found in the 1939 Register, perhaps because of an error in transcribing the unusual surname.
The Division was sent to the Middle East in late 1941. In 1942, it was relocated to North Africa and served with distinction in turning the tide at El Alamein against the Axis forces which were then pushed back to Tunis and defeated. With North Africa secure in Allied hands, the way was clear for the invasion of Sicily.
The landings began on 9 July 1943 - in James's case, a little to the south of Syracuse. Initially, the weather conditions were much less than ideal. There was, of course, strong Axis resistance and it took nearly seven weeks of fierce fighting before the Allies had captured the island, providing the base for the invasion of the Italian mainland. Casualty List No 1332 reported that James was killed in action in the first week of the overall battle. He is one of the 1,059 Commonwealth WW2 burials in the Syracuse War Cemetery, Sicily.
No record has been found of James and Beatrice having any children. The widowed Beatrice (whom the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's post-war records list as being "of Hollingworth, Cheshire") took the option of adding a personal inscription to the headstone,
"To the glory of God and in proud and loving memory. Sadly missed."

Roger Morgan © 2018
http://www.epsomandewellhistoryexplorer.org.uk/WW2BookM.html#MackieJL



Send other informations»
Home Movie Historical Movie Gallery Contacts Login
PLOT III
Name: Mackie, James Lionel, J L
Rank: Gunner
Service: 1099863
Unit Text: 74 Field R
Regiment: Royal Artillery
Date of Death: 13/07/1943
Age: 36
Casuality:
Grave Reference: III. H. 4.
Cemetery:
Inscription: To the glory of God and in proud and loving memory. Sadly missed.

War Dead

Royal Marines
ABBOTT, JOHN WILLIAM THOMAS, J W T
ASHTON, GEORGE, G
BARR, LESLIE, L
BELLWOOD, NOEL PAGE, N P
BOWES, LESLIE, L
BRASS, ALBERT EDWARD, A E
BROOME, HAROLD LESLIE, H L
CHEETHAM, JAMES, J
COGGINS, FRANK, F
DARLING, THOMAS HENRY, T H
DAVIES, ALBERT EDWARD CHRISTOPHER, A E C
DAVIS, ERNEST HARRY, E H
DOE, JOHN, J
DOWSON, HARRY, H
ENGLAND, ALBERT ETHELBERT, A E
EVANS, LEONARD LLEWELLYN, L L
EYRES, GEORGE HENRY, G H
FORSTER, JOHN MADIGAN, J M
FRANKLIN, LESLIE HERBERT, L H
GEMMELL, JAMES MACKIE, J M
HARVEY, MAURICE GEORGE, M G
HATTON, JOSEPH JOHN, J J
HODGES, SYDNEY ALFRED, S A
JONES, JOHN, J
MACDONALD, DONALD JAMES, D J
Mc CANN, GERARD JOSEPH, G J
Mc DONOUGH, PETER, P
MILBOURNE, RAYMOND PERCY, R P
MILLETT, ERNEST FREDERICK, E F
MITCHELL, DENNIS WILLIAM, D W
NEWBOLD, JOHN AMOS, J A
NEWHAM, PERCY ROBERT BOB, P R B
NIBLETT, CHARLES HERBERT, C H
OGDEN, HARRY, H
PERRY, LESLIE JOHN, L J
PRICE, KENNETH, K
RAYNER, ARTHUR GEORGE ALFRED, A G A
SHEPPARD, ALBERT WALTER, A W
STANLEY, ALBERT EDWARD, A E
STREAMS, ALBERT EDWARD, A E
SUTTON, RAYMOND STANLEY HUBERT, R S H
VICKERS, ALFRED NATHANIEL, A N
WOOD, WILLIAM JOHN MAURICE, W J M

Royal Scots Fusiliers
ALEXANDER, JOHN, J
Mc DONALD, PATRICK, P

Royal Corps of Signals
ALLEN, RONALD JOHN, R J
SEED, VICTOR ALAN, V A

Royal Naval Patrol Service
ANDERSON, NORMAN, N

Royal Navy
ARNOLD, ARTHUR, A A
BOWLER, THOMAS, T A
BROCKSOM, KENNETH, K
CROFTS, PETER CHARLES, P C
DYMENT, FREDERICK ERNEST, F E
FINLAY, THOMAS WILSON, T W
GRAHAM, IAN MAURICE, I M
KIRBY, FREDERICK, F H
KNOWN UNTO GOD
LOVE, JOHN ALFRED, J A
MORLAND, THOMAS, T
MURPHY, JAMES PATRICK, J P
PRICE, WILLIAM, W
SMITH, FREDERICK WILLIAM, F W
WRIGHT, DANIEL SMITH, D S

Royal Army Service Corps
BAILEY, FREDERICK GEORGE, F G

York and Lancaster Regiment
BALL, ERNEST, E
THRIPPLETON, ALLAN, A

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
BANKS, LESLIE, L
HENDERSON, ALEXANDER WILKIE, A W

Merchant Navy
BEED, GEORGE T., G T
HENDRIKSEN, JOHN, J
J. TUNSTALL
KNOWN UNTO GOD
KNOWN UNTO GOD
KNOWN UNTO GOD
KNOWN UNTO GOD
KNOWN UNTO GOD
KNOWN UNTO GOD
KNOWN UNTO GOD
KNOWN UNTO GOD
KNOWN UNTO GOD
KNOWN UNTO GOD

Royal Artillery
BENNETT, GEORGE HENRY, G H
BETTERIDGE, ARNOLD, A
CUMMINGS, JOSEPH PETER, J P
INCE, WILLIAM, W
JONES, ROBERT JOHN, R J
KELLY, JAMES MITCHELL, J M
MACKIE, JAMES LIONEL, J L
MOORE, WILLIAM ARCHIBALD, W A
MOTT, HENRY CHARLES ARTHUR, H C A
PILBROW, JOSEPH HENRY, J H
RILEY, DAVID BRYNMOR, D B
SAINT, HENRY WILLIAM, H W
SMITH, ROBERT, R

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
BOURHILL, WILLIAM, W
LOCKWOOD - BUNCE, JOHN ARTHUR, J A
SCOTCHER, PETER, P

South Staffordshire Regiment Airborne
BROWNE, LESLIE DENIS LYNDON, L D L

Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment)
CALDWELL, HARRY, H
COWAN, ALEXANDER, A
THORBURN, DOUGLAS GLENDINNING, D G

Royal Engineers
DIXON, JOSEPH, J
STACEY, GEORGE WILLIAM, G W
WRIGHT, WILLIAM BUTLER, W B

Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
DROUGHT, GEORGE RICHARD SMERGER, G R S
MILLS, JOHN DAVID, J D

Welch Regiment
HAYWOOD, REX EDWARDS, R E

Green Howards (Yorkshire Regiment)
HOYLES, HARRY, H
PEARCE, ROBERT, R

London Scottish
HUBBARD, HARRY, H

Northamptonshire Regiment
JOHNSON, THOMAS, T

Koninkrijk der Nederlanden
K. STEEN

King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
KELLY, THOMAS, T

Border Regiment
LANE, HARRY, H
PARTINGTON, ALFRED OWEN, A O

Durham Light Infantry
MATTHEWS, JOHN, J
SHIMMEN, JAMES THOMAS, J T
WALTON, HENRY ELAND, H E

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Mc BREARTY, HUGH, H
O' NEILL, THOMAS, T
SNEDDON, WILLIAM HAMILTON, W H

Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
NEILL, WILLIAM, W

Glider Pilot Regiment, A.A.C.
RICHARDS, DAVID WILLIAM JOHN, D W J

Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)
THOMAS, ROBERT EDWARD, R E

Seaforth Highlanders
TURNELL, RONALD HENRY, R H

Royal Army Medical Corps
WILLIAMS, EDWARD M., E M

PLOT 4 PLOT 3 PLOT 2 PLOT 1 PLOT 8 PLOT 7 PLOT 6 PLOT 5