H e was the son of Bob and Anna Ransome of Docking, and worked at Roy's shop in the village before being called up. He was drafted into the Royal Artillery, and as 1808708 Gunner Ransome joined 240 Battery of 77 Heavy Anti Aircraft Regiment. He and his Regiment were despatched to the Far East to strengthen the defences of Singapore against the Japanese threat. The convoy of ships sailed round the Cape and called in at Durban. Soon after, it became apparent that Singapore was going to fall to the Japanese, and except for one ship, the City of Canterbury, which reached there, the remaining vessels were diverted to Batavia, on the north coast of Java, reaching there on about 5th February 1942. Probably in Java,but possibly in Singapore,James was captured by the Japanese, and he and his fellow prisoners were put to work on airfield construction tasks for the Japanese in Borneo and the East Indies. It was Japanese practice to carry Prisoners of War in unmarked vessels, battened down in the holds of such ships. James was being transported from Ambon, in the Moluccas to the east of Java, back towards Java, in the Japanese ship Suez Maru, when, on 29th November 1943 it was torpedoed and sunk near the Kangean Islands, south of the Straits of Macassar. This attack was carried out by the United States warship Bonefish, operating from Freemantle in Australia as part of Task Force 71.