Signalman James Baird Stewart RN, J/29093, was drowned in a collision in the North Sea in which the minesweeper HMS Q20 sank. The body of the 19-year-old was never recovered.

Mother Mrs Jessie Stewart, of 25 John Street, Luton, was officially told of his death on the following Monday. The family had moved to Luton from Scotland some years earlier, and James had served in the Navy for three years. Prior to enlistment he had worked at the Diamond Foundry in Dallow Road, Luton.

His father, Pte James Stewart, had been serving for nine months in France with the Royal Sussex Regiment, having been transferred from the Bedfords.

James's brother, L-Cpl Peter Stewart, was serving with the Royal Fusiliers in France, having previously been through the Gallipoli campaign with the 5th Bedfords.