James Cleminson

Who was James Cleminson?

Sir James Arnold Stacey Cleminson, KBE, MC was a prominent British soldier and businessman, was decorated for his service during the Battle of Arnhem after fighting in the North African Campaign and escaping while a prisoner of war in the Italian Campaign during the Second World War. He subsequently became a chief executive of Colman's and entered the Confederation of British Industry, becoming its president in 1984.

Cleminson was born in 1921 in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, to businessman Arnold Cleminson and his wife Dr Florence Stacey-Cleminson, a physician at Victoria Children’s Hospital. Clemison attended Rugby School and was called up for war service in 1940 immediately after leaving. He fought in the North African Campaign and was captured, being taken to Italy as a prisoner of war. There he escaped and walked through enemy lines to rejoin his regiment during the Italian Campaign. He subsequently joined the Parachute Regiment as a captain and participated in the Battle of Arnhem, where his platoon ambushed and killed the German garrison commander Major-General Friedrich Kussin.