Skip to content

James Joseph Farley

Private James J. “Jim” Farley served with Baker Company, First Battalion, 2nd Marines.
He drowned while crossing Sealark Channel, off Guadalcanal, on 9 October 1942.

Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019

Branch

Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number 352969

Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019

Current Status

Remains Not Recovered

Pursuit Category

Based on circumstances of loss, this individual is considered permanently non-recoverable.

Capsule History

Pre-War Life

Birth

April 26, 1924
at Chicago, IL

Parents

Thomas Christopher Farley
Julia Agnes (Banks) Farley

Education

St. Philip Basilica High School (1942)

Occupation & Employer

Student

Service Life

Entered Service

January 14, 1942
at Chicago, IL

Home Of Record

4620 Maypole Avenue
Chicago, IL

Next Of Kin

Father, Mr. Thomas Farley

Military Specialty

Primary Unit

B/1/2nd Marines

Campaigns Served

Solomon Islands / Guadalcanal

Individual Decorations

Purple Heart

Additional Service Details

Loss And Burial

Circumstances Of Loss

The First Battalion, 2nd Marines participated in the August landings in the Solomon Islands in August 1942 – but soon found themselves on “abysmally boring, terribly uncomfortable, and unhealthy” garrison duty on Tulagi. Among them was Private James Farley, an eighteen-year-old from Chicago.

On the evening of 9 October 1942, the battalion made ready for a raid against a Japanese encampment at Aola Bay on Guadalcanal’s north coast. Four hundred and thirty men assembled on the beach and boarded a small fleet of eight “T Boats” – the Higgins “Eureka” model, also known as the Landing Craft Personnel, Large (LCPL) – that would ferry them across Sealark Channel to Aola. The objective was more than thirty miles away, so a pair of Yard Patrol craft (“Challenger” and “Endeavor”) were assigned as tow vessels. “Four Higgins boats were towed behind each YP, but instead of securing each boat to the YP by a separate towline, the boats were tied one to the other in a column,” explained William Rogal of A/1/2. “Thus the lead boat, the only one tied directly to the YP, had to bear the strain of the three loaded boats tied to its stern.”

The raiding party departed at dusk, setting a very modest five knot pace across open water. The “Yippies,” fishing boats pressed into wartime service, unarmed and unarmored, relying on the cover of night to cross undetected. Unfortunately, as Rogal relates, “the sky to our rear lit up with flashes of light and the booming of heavy guns reached our ears…. My discomfort was not helped by the highly visible sparks that spewed from my YP’s stack.” The Yippie skippers gunned their engines to escape the unknown threat.

Lieutenant Floyd E. Parks‘ Second Platoon occupied the first Higgins boat towed by YP-284 “Endeavor.” The sudden acceleration proved too much for the plywood frame, and with a sickening splintering sound, the boat split in two and capsized. Horrified Marines weighted down by combat gear found themselves sinking to the bottom of the channel. Fourteen clung to the wreckage or surfaced in a panic; Pharmacist’s Mate Eugene Baxter personally rescued ten survivors. Another fifteen Marines – including Private Farley – drowned, and were never seen again.

Burial Information or Disposition

None; remains lost at sea.

YP-284 was sunk in action off Guadalcanal on 25 October 1942.

Memorials

Manila American Cemetery and Memorial
Namesake of James Joseph Farley Square, Maypole and Kilpatrick Avenues, Chicago.

Next Of Kin Address

Address of father, Mr. Thomas C. Farley.

Location Of Loss

The Higgins boat sank in Sealark Channel between Tulagi and Aola.

Related Profiles

Lost in Sealark Channel, 9 October 1942.
Haltom, Hipp, and Lee, on detached duty from USS President Jackson, comprised the Higgins boat crew.
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

0 thoughts on “James J. Farley”

  1. James Joseph Farley, son of Thomas and Julia Farley, was my cousin. His mother, Julia, was my the sister of my grandmother, Mamie Schmitz.. There was an official sign honoring James J. Farley on a corner lamp post just above or just below the street sign probably on Maypole Avenue in the block where Jim Farley had lived. On Memorial Day when we lived a few blocks away on the West Side, my family would go to the memorial sign, stand underneath, and I would play “Taps” on the saxophone while my brothers Jim and John would play the drums. We probably played the Marine Corps Hymn, too, on those Memorial Days. I was born in 1944, John in 1942, and Jim in 1946. We never met Jim Farley, and by the time we used to assemble by the sign on Memorial Day, his family had moved to Los Angeles. But we went anyway. I always wondered how Jim Farley died and have looked on the Internet and in Guadalcanal books several times. This is the first time I ever discovered how Jim Farley, my cousin, died. Thanks to all the people involved in creating this website and gathering this information. Signed: Jerry Crimmins, Chicago, Illinois.

    1. Mr. Crimmins, thank you for sharing your memories. I think you might be interested in the book “Guadalcanal, Tarawa and Beyond: A Mud Marine’s Memoir of the Pacific Island War.” The author, William Rogal, served with A/1/2nd Marines, and has a vivid description of crossing from Tulagi to Guadalcanal in the Higgins boats. His company made it across intact, but he mentions the loss of the B Company platoon.

      Best,
      Geoffrey

      1. Geoffrey, whoever researched the Marines career and death of Pvt. James Farley is very dedicated. Thank you. I’ll check out the book you recommend.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *