Another casualty to die at sea, James was a further member of the Royal Naval Patrol Service and was serving aboard the H.M. Trawler Wistaria when he perished just a matter of weeks before the end of the war.  James was initially based and conscripted on Tyneside at the outbreak of war, along with many other Filey fishermen; the key indicator for this is the ‘LT/’ prefix to his service number which was the code for the Tyneside registration centre.  The other men from Filey that were based around that particular naval hub were Jack Cammish, William Irish Cammish, Francis Cappleman, Thomas Coultas, Edward Hunter, Frank Hunter, John William Johnson and John McPherson, although their movements throughout the course of the conflict probably took them to many differing locations around the UK coastline.

          James’ death occurred nowhere near to his initial base of operations, as he buried in South Stoneham Cemetery, Southampton indicating that his death was most likely as a result of a conflict off the south coast of England.  Had his ship hit a mine and sunk, then the chances of his body being recovered were slim so the most probable solution is in an encounter with an enemy vessel.  James was the son of James Douglas of Filey, who was another sailor/fisherman who served aboard the H.M. Trawler John Ellis in the Royal Naval Reserve during the First World War engaged in very similar duties as his son would be in the Second World War.