James Joseph Collins was born February 3, 1837, near Knaresborough, Yorkshire, England, a younger son of a landowner. He was a career soldier, joining the King's Royal Rifle Corps (the 60th Rifles) at the age of seventeen. A Lieutenant-Colonel at the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Afghan War in 1878, he was sent to Afghanistan to command the 2nd Battalion of the King's Royal Rifles, which was already en route to Kandahar when he arrived in India in December 1878. He served through the war, but died of an illness during the journey back to India in October 1880. Collins left a widow, Edith, daughter of John Sutton Utterton, Bishop of Guildford, and three young daughters. He is buried in Winchester, England.
From the description of Diary of the Second Anglo-Afghan War, 1878-1880. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 81915074
From the description of Diary of the Second Anglo-Afghan War, 1878-1880. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 702165076
