Colin Boyd has provided the following:
James was born on 11th August 1889. He was working as a miner living with his mother, Mary Ann, at Laughton Dene, Beech Grove, Whickham, when he enlisted in the Northumberland Fusiliers on 2nd September 1914 and then transferred to the RNVR on 9th September 1914.
He joined the Hood Battalion on the same day and later served in Gallipoli.
James died on 3rd May 1915 in the 87th Field Ambulance (RAMC) from the effects of a gun shot wound to the left hip which damaged his bladder.
James was the older brother of William Creighton Whitfield who was killed in action on 13th November 1916.
James Henderson Whitfield is remembered in Whickham on W86.01, W86.03, W86.05 and W86.10, and in Swalwell on S85.01 and S85.06
