James was born in Nottinghamshire on the 3rd of September 1894 and was the son of William and Eliza Tooke.  He worked as a colliery clerk before enlisting on the 17th of November 1915, aged 21 years.   

James served with the 2/8th Battalion, of The Sherwood Foresters, in “B” Company.  He served during the Great War (1914-18), including in the Irish Rebellion in Dublin in 1916, where at one time he was Batman to Lieutenant J W Jago.  

James also served with the Battalion in France. The 2/8th Battalion landed in February 1917, presumably with James with them. In 1918, he was taken prisoner of war by the Germans. 

James was repatriated in 1919 and discharged at Clipstone Camp, near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.  He transferred to the army reserve on the 3rd of March 1919.  

James married Clarice Thorpe in 1922.  It is revealed in the 1939 register that he was again employed as a Colliery Clerk, and that he was also a Special Constable.  James lived in Annesley, Nottinghamshire and died of natural causes on the 24th of December 1970, aged 76 years.