In 1911, the Henderson family were living at 2 Claremont Place, Crieff Road, Perth. Head, James, Mechanical Fitter, Dye Works. b. 1878, Moneydie, Perthshire; Wife, Maud, b.1879, England; Son, James Fraser, b. 1907, Tibbermore, Perthshire; and Daughter Harriet, b. 1911, Perth.

Dundee Courier, 18 April 1945

“HENDERSON.-Killed in action in Italy during Apr. 1945, L-Cpl. James Fraser Henderson, London Scottish, beloved son of Mr and Mrs James Henderson, 1 Tulloch Pl., Perth.”

On 3rd September 1943 the Allies invaded the Italian mainland. Following the fall of Rome to the Allies in June 1944, the German retreat became ordered and successive stands were made on a series of defensive lines. In the northern Appenine mountains the last of these, the Gothic Line, was breached by the Allies during the Autumn campaign of 1944. The final Allied offensive began early in April 1945.

OPERATION GRAPESHOT

The spring 1945 offensive in Italy, codenamed Operation Grapeshot, was the final Allied attack during the Italian Campaign in the final stages of the Second World War. The attack into the Lombardy Plain by the 15th Allied Army Group started on 6th April 1945. In the first week of April, diversionary attacks were launched on the extreme right and left of the Allied front to draw German reserves away from the main assaults to come. The build-up to the main assault started on 6th April with a heavy artillery bombardment of the Senio defenses.

Argenta Gap War Cemetery marks the final stages of the hard fighting in Italy and the site of the cemetery was chosen by the 78th Division for battlefield burials. It was later enlarged when burials were brought in from the surrounding district.