In September 1897 James Holland Walker, aged eleven, entered the Hull Trinity House Navigation School and began a lifetime at sea. His uniform that year was almost identical to that worn by the young powder monkeys on Nelson’s HMS Victory.
James first went to sea in 1901 as an apprentice on a Liverpool barque called the Santon and in 1904 still aged only seventeen, he was shipwrecked during a storm in the North Sea. This would be only the first of five occasions that he would find himself in a lifeboat, either of his own choosing or otherwise. His career would embrace both World Wars during which time he was shipwrecked courtesy of a German U-boat torpedo that cast all on board into shark infested water. He was involved in rescuing other mariners in peril on three occasions and was decorated for gallantry at sea five times, including by George V in 1931.
One of the rescues James undertook in 1929 was captured on film and can still be viewed today. Typical of his generation, James Holland Walker was a true White Star Line hero, and this is the extraordinary story of his life and career.
