Alan Harold Martin was born on 24th May 1899 in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset. The oldest of six children, his parents were bricklayer Clifford Martin and his wife, Augusta. The 1911 census found the family living at 64 Abingdon Street in the town, a terraced house not far from the seafront.

When war broke out, Alan was not long out of school. He had found work as a painter’s mate, but with adventure waiting for him, he had an obvious need not to miss out. He enlisted in the Royal Navy on 28th August 1915 and, as he was too young to be formally inducted into the service, he was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class.

Alan was sent to HMS Impregnable, shore-based establishment in Devonport, Devon, for his training. His service records show that he was 5ft 3.5ins (1.61m) tall, with brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion.

Tragically, Boy Martin’s time in the Royal Navy was not to be a long one. Billeted in tightly-packed barracks, with new recruits from across the country, he quickly fell ill. Contracting pneumonia, he was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in Plymouth. The condition was to get the better of him, and he passed away on 16th December 1915, at the age of just 16 years old.

Alan Harold Martin’s body was taken back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in Burnham-on-Sea Cemetery, a short walk from where his grieving family lived.

---

---