“The accidental drowning of Private James Wesley Lee, son of Mrs. W. J. Lee, Leith Street, Whangarei, was officially notified yesterday. The message was personally conveyed by the Minister for Defence, Mr. Jones, in a telephone call to the Area Officer at Whangarei, Major H. P. Conyers Brown.

Private Lee is the third of three brothers who volunteered with the Second N.Z.E.F. to have lost his life in this way. Just a year ago his two younger brothers, Privates Richard and William Lee, were accidentally drowned in a boating misadventure on the Nile. No details of the latest tragedy are yet available, except that it occurred on September 20.

Private James Lee was educated at Mangapai. He farmed for some time and later was employed by the Public Works Department. He enlisted immediately war was declared, and went through the fighting in Greece and Crete unscathed. A fourth brother left New Zealand with a later reinforcement. A fifth brother is farming at Mangapai.

[Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 235, 4 October 1941, Page 8]