COPPING a “Blighty one” was a godsend for many soldiers in the First World War.

This meant they had received a wound that forced them to return to the British Isles, hopefully to be out of the war altogether.

Many men were sent back to the front lines, following their recovery, and some brave souls like Keighley man James Henderson volunteered to return.

The decision to return to France as a newly-commissioned officer proved deadly for Lieutenant Henderson as he was killed only a fortnight later.

James was born in 1886, and after leaving school helped his grandfather who was well-known for his cures by hydropathic treatment.

In 1914, while working for the Saxone Shoe Company, James enlisted in the army and was sent to France the following year.

He was wounded in July 1916, and following a short period in hospital, returned to his unit where he was promoted to sergeant.

James was offered a commission, and after training in Bristol, returned to France in summer 1917 to join the Tyneside Scottish.

He took part in many bombing raids on the German trenches, but was killed in one of these operations in September, the same year.

James Henderson is remembered on the roll of honour for St Barnabas Church district.