Rank: Captain

Service Number: 121172

Regiment: Intelligence Corps

Secondary Regiment: formerly of the Royal Artillery

Died: 19th October 1945

Age: 26 years old

James Boucher known as 'Jim' was the son of Rear Admiral Walter Sabine Boucher DSO R.N. and Vera Hasler Boucher (née Helby). They had married in Hampshire in 1912. James was born on the 16th August 1919 in Gosport, Hampshire and baptised in Alverstoke, Hampshire the following month on the 5th September 1919. They were then living at 14, The Crescent, Alverstoke. He had an older sister Vera Sara Sabine. By 1921 the family had moved to live in Wyke Regis, Weymouth at No.3, All Saints Terrace. There, the children were cared for by Millicent Chalk, a Children's Nurse. Their father was then a Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Navy in command of HMS Leamington.

James was educated at a school in Farnborough before going on to Radley College, Oxford. Here he was Head of House and a School Prefect. Leaving Radley he was awarded an Exhibition at Worcester College, Oxford entering that establishment on the 7th October 1938. At Worcester, James was a member of the College Rowing Club and rowed in the 1st Torpid and 1st Eight in 1939.

When WW2 broke out, he relinquished his studies at Worcester College, planning to resume them and take his degree after the war. Initially enlisting as a Gunner in the Royal Field Artillery, James attended the 123rd Officer Cadet Training Unit. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the R.F.A. on the 18th February 1940.

On the 5th September 1942 he was promoted to Lieutenant and transferred to the Intelligence Corps. He was later promoted to Temporary Captain and posted to India.

Whilst on active service in India, James was killed on the 19th October 1945 in an accident.

Buried in Ranchi War Cemetery, India, James is also commemorated on the War Memorials at Radley College and Worcester College, Oxford.

(Sources: CWGC, Ancestry, Find My Past, Radley College, Worcester College)

(Bio: Woose)