Private James Bannister
4979 Lancashire Fusiliers
46 Hufling Lane

“Killed Soldier’s Boy Chum” (Burnley Express 11/11/1916)

Pte Jim Bannister, Lancashire Fusiliers (4790) now in France, writes:- “I see by the Express of October 28th that Pte. Charles Blakey has died of wounds received Sept. 28th. I got wounded and crushed on Sept. 27th. I used to write to Blakey up to that date, for I have been his mate from boyhood, and I should like to get any address of his brothers and sisters. I came out here in Dec. 1914. I got invalided home Oct. 21, 1915 through the effects of gas on the 2nd of May, 1915. I came out a second time in Aug. 1916 and got wounded Sept. 27. I enlisted three days after the war broke out, and my home address is Hufling Lane. I get your paper every week and I am sorry to see the good old Burnley lads’ photos in the death roll. I am sure that anyone who had known Charlie Blakey would always respect him, for he was a proper Straightforward and honest lad – not a flaw in his character”.