Second Engineer Officer James Whittle served in the Canadian Merchant Navy during the Second World War. He was the son of Elizabeth Whittle of Selshion, Portadown, Co. Armagh, and the husband of Violet Whittle of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
He died on 19th June 1940 aged 40 years old on SS Ville de Namur. The unescorted Belgian Passenger Steamer under the command of Master J. Grymonprez went down to the west of La Rochelle, France at 2005hrs. It took the vessel only 5 minutes to sink after a pair of torpedoes struck. Otto Salman, the commander of U-52 mistook the large wooden structures on deck for ammunition crates. In reality, the cargo was a transport of horses. A total of 29 people died as a result of the sinking, leaving 54 survivors.
James Whittle has no known grave. His name is on Panel 17 of the Halifax Memorial, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and on the Portadown War Memorial, Portadown, Co. Armagh.