Born in Balgownie on the south coast of New South Wales, Edward Alexander James was 21 when he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 17 August 1915 having worked previously as a miner. James embarked from Sydney with the 12th reinforcements to the 13th Battalion aboard HMAT Suevic on 20 December 1915. He was also a member of the 13th Battalion Band. He returned to Australia in mid-1919 and settled in the Wollongong area of New South Wales, where he died on 21 May 1969.