Walker, Able Seaman James

Service highlights

  • Service Number V17999,
  • Born 12 February 1924 in St. Marys, raised in Blanshard Township
  • Served with the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve as a gunner
  • Posted to corvette HMCS Alberni for convoy and channel escort duty
  • Lost at sea 21 August 1944 in the English Channel, torpedoed by U-480
  • Commemorated on the Halifax Memorial and on the World War II plaque at St. Marys Town Hall

A Life and Service Remembered

James Walker was born in St. Marys on 12 February 1924 and grew up in Blanshard Township. He attended Rannoch School, then left school and went straight into working life. For a time he worked at Maxwell’s and later at Coronation Dairy on James Street South. Like many young men in town, he also paraded with the Perth Regiment on a part time basis after the war began.

On 3 March 1942, he enrolled in the navy reserve, and on 8 April 1942 he was placed on active service. His first training was at HMCS Prevost, the naval armoury in London, followed by gunnery training at HMCS Cornwallis in Nova Scotia from 7 June to 21 July 1942. He returned to HMCS Prevost, then was drafted back to HMCS Cornwallis on 22 September 1942 and to HMCS Alberni at Halifax on 6 October 1942.

Alberni was a Flower class corvette, built for hard, practical work: convoy escort, long watches, rough seas, and the constant readiness demanded of a small ship carrying big responsibilities. As a gunner, Jim’s action station would have been with the ship’s weapons, including the 4 inch gun and the close range anti aircraft guns. It was demanding, repetitive work, but vital, and it placed him right where danger could arrive without warning.

For much of 1943, Alberni escorted convoys between Quebec City and Labrador. In April 1944, the ship was sent overseas with a group of other corvettes for duties connected to Operation Neptune, supporting the invasion of Europe. That spring and summer brought close calls. On 26 July, Alberni was attacked by a German Ju 88 flying at sea level, but the aircraft was driven off by gunfire and crashed into the sea. Two days later, the ship was dropping depth charges on a submarine when a mine detonated nearby. The blast was close enough to remind everyone aboard how thin the margin could be, even when the ship remained afloat.

Jim’s story becomes more personal in the words he left behind. In his last letter to friends, he wrote about how long it had been since he had stood on solid ground, and how lucky the boys back home were to still be able to work “on mother earth.” He admitted, plainly, that he missed fresh fruits and vegetables, and that life at sea was harder than he had expected. He even joked, with the kind of honesty that only shows up in letters, that he could see his mistake now. He told them he had run into a few Canadian soldiers and that they were all wanting to get back home. It is the voice of a young man doing his duty, but still thinking like someone from a farming town, measuring the world by seasons, soil, and the comfort of ordinary routines.

On 21 August 1944, Alberni was in the English Channel, southeast of Isle of Wight, patrolling for enemy submarines and escorting shipping connected with the invasion ports in France. At about 11:45 a.m., without warning, she was struck by a torpedo fired by U-480. The ship sank in less than two minutes. Thirty one crew members were rescued, but fifty nine were lost. No bodies were recovered, and the wreck is considered a war grave.

James was survived by his parents, Agnes and James Walker of Lakeside, a brother, Archie, and four sisters, Ina, Nettie, Mary, and Lottie. With no known grave, his name is carried on the Halifax Memorial and remembered at home in St. Marys.

Major battles and operations

  • 12 February 1924, born in St. Marys, Ontario
  • Educated at Rannoch School
  • Worked at Maxwell’s and Coronation Dairy in St. Marys
  • Paraded with the 2nd Reserve Battalion, Perth Regiment
  • 3 March 1942, enrolled in the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve
  • 8 April 1942, placed on active service
  • HMCS Prevost, basic training in London, Ontario
  • 7 June to 21 July 1942, HMCS Cornwallis, gunnery training in Nova Scotia
  • 6 October 1942, drafted to HMCS Alberni at Halifax
  • 1943, convoy escort duties between Quebec City and Labrador
  • April 1944, overseas duties connected to Operation Neptune
  • 26 July 1944, Ju 88 attack repelled while at sea
  • Late July 1944, mine detonation nearby during depth charge operations
  • 21 August 1944, torpedoed by U-480 in the English Channel, southeast of the Isle of Wight
  • Commemorated on the Halifax Memorial

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