James Jackman was born in Alverstoke, Hampshire on 18 May 1913, the son of Albert John and Florence Beatrice Jackman (formerly Leach – née Hollis). When the 1921 Census was taken the family were living at 19, Chapel Street, Gosport – his father was listed as a seaman on the Gosport floating bridge (chain ferry). James Alfred had an older brother, Albert George and two younger sisters, Elsie and Betty Violet.

It is not known when James Jackman joined the Royal Navy or when he joined submarines but in May 1942 he was a Leading Stoker serving in HMS OLYMPUS in the Mediterranean.  He died when OLYMPUS was mined shortly after leaving Malta on 8 May 1942.

James Jackman was the husband of Violet Ethel Jackman (née Barber) – they had been married in Gosport in June 1933 – and he was the father of Kenneth James Jackman.  He was a cousin of CPO Charley Jackman DSM*, the Coxswain of HMS URGE, so the Jackman family were hit by two losses due to the same minefield in the space of less than two weeks. He is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial on Panel 68, Column 1.