[5][2][1] The battalion, a Kitchener's Army unit raised from civilian volunteers in September, formed part of the 57th Brigade of the 19th (Western) Division (nicknamed "The Butterfly Division" due to its divisional insignia) and, after many months of training, departed for service on the Western Front in July 1915, arriving in France on 18 July as part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF).
[2] With most of the rest of 1915 spent learning about the basics of trench warfare, July 1916 saw the battalion – then commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Adrian Carton de Wiart – engaged in the Battle of the Somme, specifically in the capture of La Boisselle.
He was mentioned in despatches for his handling of the battalion's Lewis guns, and returned to France in December as a member of the 57th Brigade HQ staff, which was not to his liking.
[7] He rejoined his battalion soon afterwards and was promoted to the temporary rank of captain on 22 February 1917,[8] he was given command of 'A' Company and was again wounded, this time by shrapnel, and in April he was again mentioned in despatches.
[7][3] Returning again to the front, he fought in the Battle of Messines in June 1917, where he was slightly wounded and awarded the Military Cross (MC) for his part in capturing a position called Druid's Farm.
Previous to our attack, he took up a forward position under heavy hostile barrage in order to obtain accurate information as to the progress of our advance.
He then made a very daring personal reconnaissance of the whole line under heavy shelling and rifle fire that he might send back a report to his battalion commander, and his total disregard of danger and brilliant initiative throughout the action were largely responsible for its success.
[9] In May, from a prisoner of war camp, he managed to send a postcard to his father, "informing him that he had been wounded in the neck, shoulder, jaw and stomach".
[14] James served with the battalion in Egypt between 1928 and 1930 before returning to the regimental depot in Bristol and, from 1930 to 1931, he attended the Staff College, Camberley, where his many fellow students included Miles Dempsey, James Steele, George Symes, George Hopkinson, William Gott, John Nichols and Maurice Chilton, all of whom were to achieve general officer rank in the next war.
[14] On 19 July 1940, shortly after the Dunkirk evacuation, James was promoted to the acting rank of brigadier,[1] and served on the staff of the newly created VIII Corps.
"[14] After initially being held in reserve for the Allied invasion of Sicily, the brigade then settled down for training before taking part in the Allied invasion of Italy in September where his brigade, along with the rest of the division, now commanded by Major-General John Hawkesworth, sustained very heavy casualties, including James himself, being badly wounded in the leg on 20 September and reluctantly allowed himself to be evacuated via hospital ship to Egypt.