Death of Mystery Pillion Rider

My grand-aunt Ada Webster nee Whitaker (1912-1998 Sheffield), had amongst her effects this newspaper cutting:

Unfortunately, I don't know exactly who this A. J. Whittaker is, or the date of the newspaper article, though he must have been connected to the family somehow for her to keep the cutting.

It should be noted that our Whitaker name only has one 't', in contrast to the name in the newspaper story, but I'm not going to automatically discount it from a family connection, because the name was often misspelt.

The follow-up article refers to the dead man as John Whittaker, and his son as Louis Whittaker.
Another clue is that the ''Yorkshire Telegraph and Star'' changed its name in 1937, so the article must have been before then.
The war refereed to in the cutting must have been the Great War.
The death would have been registered in either the Sheffield or the Ecclesall Bierlow districts, as he lived at 16 Fairfax Road, Sheffield. He was 64 when he died.

I'm still investigating this, and will report my findings as and when...