James Joseph Towers was a resident of Liverpool in the United Kingdom. He signed on the EMPRESS OF ASIA on November 3rd, 1941 at Liverpool as a member of the Deck Department. He had previously served on the Cunard passenger ship FRANCONIA.
Following the loss of the EMPRESS OF ASIA, he was successfully evacuated from Singapore to Batavia in Java aboard the steamer HONG KWONG.
With the surrender of Java he was interned as a Prisoner of War, first in Java, and later in Thailand. He died of illness on June 13th, 1943 and is buried at Kanchanaburi War Cemetery in Thailand. He was 19 years old.