James McLaughlin was born in Maghera. Private James McLaughlin was serving with 24th (Tyneside Irish) Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers when he was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme on Saturday 1st July 1916.
The Thiepval Memorial will be found on the D73, next to the village of Thiepval, off the main Bapaume to Albert road (D929). Each year a major ceremony is held at the memorial on 1 July.