The funeral of John William Venney (27), a trimmer in the minesweeping section of the RNR, who was one of the victims in the Chatham air raid, took place on Saturday afternoon with full naval honours. A contingent of men from the minesweepers formed an escort, and with the body resting on a gun-carriage, covered by the Union Jack, the cortege attracted a lot of sympathetic interest as is proceeded from deceased’s home, at No. 40 Elliston-street. A large number of people assembled at the cemetery, and, after the body had been committed to the grave, the naval firing party paid the last honours to their comrade. Deceased was one of a number of Grimsby men who were accommodated at Chatham. Several of them were killed but all, with the exception of Venney, were buried at Chatham.
[Grimsby News: Friday 14th September 1917]
John William Venney was born on 6th July 1890 in Grimsby, Lincolnshire. The oldest of eight children, of which five survived childhood, his parents were William and Ann Venney. William was a sailor, and, when he finished his schooling, John also went to sea, taking work as a ship’s fireman.
In 1914, John married Florence Johnson. There is little information about her life: she was born in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, in the summer of 1892, but there is no further documentation for her. The couple went on to have a daughter, Ivy, in October 1916.
By this point, war was raging across Europe, and John would be called upon to play his part. Assigned to the Royal Naval Reserve as a Trimmer, his service papers show that he was 5ft 6ins (1.67m) tall, with blue eyes and a sallow complexion.
Formally enlisted on 13th June 1917, Trimmer Venney spent the next three months at the Royal Navy’s shore bases in Chatham (HMS Pembroke) and Sheerness (HMS Actaeon), Kent. Pembroke was a particularly busy and overcrowded place at this point in the war, and John found himself billeted in temporary accommodation in the Drill Hall.
On the night of the 3rd September 1917, the German air raid carried out a bombing raid on the North Kent coast. Chatham found itself in the firing line, and the Drill Hall received two direct hits. Dozens of sleeping men died in the explosions that followed, Trimmer Venney among them. He was 27 years of age.
The body of John William Venney was taken back to Lincolnshire for burial. He was laid to rest in Cleethorpes Cemetery.
[Note: the photo above is of the memorial to the Chatham Air Raid victims, close to the mass grave for those whose bodies were not identified, in Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, Kent.]
Death and Service 