James Alfred Smith
Memorial: Thornbury & District Museum: 6th Maritime Regiment Memorial
Regiment: 6th Maritime Regiment
Medals: 1939–45 Star, War Medal 1939–1945
Rank and number: Gunner
Home address: 243 Plashet Road, West Ham
Pre-war occupation: Grocery Shop Assistant
Date of birth: 06/09/1922
Place of birth: East London
Date of death: 24/01/1943
Buried/Commemorated at: Died at sea and commemorated on Chatham Naval Memorial and the Maritime Memorial Thornbury
Age: 20
Further information:
James was born and raised in East London. In 1939 he was lodging with a Mr and Mrs Hill and his older brother Harry.
On the day of his death James was serving aboard the former French liner 'Ville de Tamatave' then owned by the Ministry of War Transport Office. The vessel left Cardiff in ballast on January 7th, 1943, for New York. On January 24th, she reported that her rudder had broken during a storm and that she was sinking. The Master, a crew of 71 including James and 3 other gunners from the 6th Maritime Regiment were lost along with 17 passengers. There were no survivors.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
This information has been provided by Sarah Hands, Volunteer Researcher for the South Gloucestershire War Memorials Web Site.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
https://www.cwgc.org/
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/
https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/
https://www.wrecksite.eu/casualty-list.aspx?QzveMoC1QrU5jLl4GHyiug==#58898