James Shaw Aikins (SN 3676) was born in Ballarat and was a 23 year old butter maker when he enlisted on July 14th 1915. He embarked from Melbourne on the Ceramic on November 23rd and sailed to Egypt where he undertook a further three months of training. As a sergeant with the 59th Battalion he travelled to France in June 1916. For a time, he was seconded to the instructional staff at the Musketry School in France before returning to the 59th Battalion in December 1916. Some minor illnesses interrupted his service, but he was promoted to the rank of Warrant Officer Class One, and he served with distinction. Because of his brave leadership in the fierce fighting at Villers-Bretonneux in August 1918, Brigadier General Harold ‘Pompey’ Elliott recommended him for the Distinguished Conduct Medal "for continuous and consistent gallantry and devotion to duty ……… in the face of heavy shell and machine gun fire". There is no record that the award was made. After the war he left England in May 1919 aboard the Orontes and disembarked at Melbourne on June 28th. He was discharged two months later.

Lucas’s Staffs Appreciation of Brave Men, the original Avenue register, records his name as James Aikens.