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From: "Barry Williams" <>
Subject: Albert JAMES: Life as a General's batman
Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2005 10:16:18 -0000


From recent converations with my mother, I have found out that my Great
Uncle, Albert James (b. 1893 in West Felton, Shropshire) served in the Great
War as batman to Lieutenant-General Adrian Carton de Wiart. Having searched
the internet I discovered that the General was quite a character, as well as
being the bearer of a VC, KBE and DSO amongst many other decorations. He
wrote his memoirs in 1950 about 15 years before his death and I managed to
get a copy of this book, 'Happy Odyssey'. To my delight, my Great Uncle gets
a number of mentions as one of his faithful servants, though of course, he
is always referred to as 'James', not as Bert! ;-)

Although my mum has spoken to her cousins, we don't have contact with any of
Bert's living descendants and so it's frustratingly difficult to discover
any more about his life in Carton de Wiart's service. Does anyone have any
ideas about how I might discover more? I don't even know how a soldier
became an officer's batman. Was he chosen from the ranks, or did he apply
for available positions?

All help would be greatly appreciated

Barry Williams
Timperley, near Altrincham

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