Category Archives: accident

accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, injury, photography, Private, Royal Devon Yeomanry, story, war

Private Percy Coplestone

Leave a comment
Private Percy Coplestone

Percy Reginald Coplestone was born in Torquay, Devon, on 17th August 1890. The oldest of four children, his parents were bakers William and Louisa Coplestone. The family moved to Kinkerswell in 1895, and, by the time of the 1911 census, they had moved to Paignton.

The Copplestones had set up business in Church Street and Louisa’s widowed mother, Louisa Smallbone, had moved in with them. Percy, now 20 years of age, was helping in the business, while his younger sister, Gladys, was employed as a draper’s assistant.

When war came to Europe, Percy was called upon to play his part. Details of his service are tantalisingly scarce, but they suggest that he had enlisted no earlier than April 1915. He joined the Royal Devon Yeomanry, and was assigned to the 3rd/1st Battalion, although his time in the military was to be brief.

The funeral took place Friday of Pte. Percy Coplestone, eldest sone of Mr and Mrs Coplestone, Church-street, Paignton, who joined 1st Devon Yeomanry, sustained an injury while undergoing gymnastic training, was operated upon on Monday, and died in the evening.

[Western Times: Tuesday 23rd November 1915]

Percy Reginald Copplestone died on 15th November 1915: he was 25 years of age. He was laid to rest in Paignton Cemetery, a short walk from where his family still lived.

While researching Percy’s life, I came across a couple of articles relating to a legal action taken against his father, William, by Edward Elkington, for damaged caused in a car accident. Edward was suing for £15 damaged, while William counter-sued for £65.

The case was initially heard in November 1915 – sadly, a week after Percy’s passing – before being adjourned until the following January. In amongst a number of witness statements, a local newspaper reported William’s evidence:

William Joseph Coplestone… baker and confectioner, said he left the Gerston [Hotel] between 11.5 and 11.10 in his single motor, with Mr Tolcher and Mr Hicks. It was a rather heavy car for his size, very reliable and very slow. They went on second speed, about six or seven miles an hour, and at the corner of Hyde-road witness [William] sounded the hooter, nothing then being visible. Taking a wide turn following the Torquay lines leading to Torquay, witness got on the left side, the proper side. He saw the lights of a car approaching, also a tram-car, the car being 140 yards away and 50 yards ahead of the tram. The car was approaching on the wrong side, and there was practically an end-on collision. Witness expected every moment the other car would have gone over to its proper side. Witness had driven about 100 feet when the collision took place and his car was stationery at the time. Witness and his friends were thrown out. The car cost him about £80 and the estimate of repairs was £63 5s. Mr Elkington said, “It is a bad job.” Witness replies, “It is your fault absolutely; you are on the wrong side of the road.” Plaintiff said, “You were crossing the road fast,” and witness replied that he was bound to cross the road. Elkington remarked, £I did my best to avoid the accident. Immediately I saw you I applied my brakes, but the roads were greasy, and the wheels would not grip.” PC Clarke was not there when the collision took place. Later he suggested to the constable that measurements should be taken, and went back to look after Mr Hicks. Before he got back they had moved his car. Coplestone said he had often driven two people in the car. When his son left for the Dardanelles, witness drove his wife and son to Southampton in comfort.

[Western Times: Tuesday 25th January 1916]

The case was adjourned once again, to 11th February. Frustratingly, there seems not to have been any follow-up newspaper report, so there is no confirmation of the outcome of William’s case.

accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Ireland, killed in action, Northern Ireland, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Private Frederick Bundy

Leave a comment
Private Frederick Bundy

Private Frederick Arthur Bundy, of the 1st Somerset Light Infantry is to be buried in Locksbrook Cemetery tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon with full military honours. He met with a fatal accident in Belfast on Sunday last. In the afternoon when in quarters he was passing from one room to another when a rifle which was bring cleaned by a comrade in the room which he was entering went off. The bullet passed through Private Bundy’s wrist and entered the stomach. He was at once removed to the military hospital, but passed away at midnight, from internal haemorrhage. Deceased, was the son of Mr FA Bundy, of 93 High Street, Upper Weston, and enlisted at the Drill Hall, Bath, in August 1919, when only 15 years of age, being accepted as he was a youth of exceptionally fine stature. At the time of his death he was 16 years and 10 months of age. After a short period of training at Taunton he went with a draft of Somersets to Ireland and was stationed for some time at Carrickfergus Castle, being moved into Belfast when the riots occurred there.

[Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 4th December 1920]

Frederick Arthur Bundy was born early in 1904, and was the middle of three children to Frederick and Mary Ann Bundy. Frederick Sr was a labourer from Bath, Somerset, and it was in the Weston area of the city that the family were born and raised.

The 1911 census – the only one Frederick Jr would be recorded on – noted the family as living at 45 High Street, Weston. The household consisted of Frederick Sr, Mary Ann, Frederick Jr, his older sister Sarah, younger brother William and Mary Ann’s daughter from a previous marriage, Annie.

Sadly, due to his young age, there is little additional documentation to build a picture of Frederick Jr’s life. He passed away on 28th November 1920, and was laid to rest in Bath’s Locksbrook Cemetery, not far from the family home.

Frederick Arthur Bundy’s funeral was shown in a photo-spread in the Bath Chronicle of 11th December 1920.

Editor’s Note: While Frederick enlisted nine months after the end of the First World War, his acceptance for a Commonwealth War Grave is because his passing being between the qualifying dates and the cause being as a result of his military service.

Able Seaman, accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Kent, Leading Seaman, Norfolk, Ordinary Seaman, Petty Officer, photography, Royal Navy, story, war

Petty Officer Ellis Sayer

Leave a comment
Petty Officer Ellis Sayer

Much of the life of Ellis Edward Sayer seems destined to remained shrouded in the mists of time. Born in Attleborough, Norfolk on 31st January 1888, the only census return he appears on dates from 1891. This records him as living with his grandmother, Maria Simons, who was noted as being married and working as a laundress. Ellis’ 16-year-old uncle, William, was also living there and employed as a groom.

Jumping forward a few years and, on 31st December 1907, Ellis enlisted in the Royal Navy. His service records note that he had previously been employed as a messenger, and there seems to have been some previous marine connection. The document shows that he was 5ft 8ins (1.72m), with dark brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. He was also noted as having tattoos of a dragon, a rose and the word ‘unity’ on his left forearm.

As an Ordinary Seaman, Ellis was initially sent to HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, for his training. He was only there for a matter of weeks before being assigned to the HMS Cochrane then HMS Natal.

On 7th April 1908, Ordinary Seaman Sayer was attached to the cruiser HMS Lancaster, and he was to remain with her for close to two years. Promoted to Able Seaman on 26th November 1909, his time on board came to a close in May 1910.

Over the next few years, Ellis continued his progress in his naval career. After a year on shore in Chatham, he was assigned to HMS Blonde, and was promoted to Leading Seaman in August 1912. He returned to HMS Pembroke the next month, and remained attached to the dockyard for the next year and a half: his experience likely being used to support newer recruits.

On 6th March 1914, Leading Seaman Sayer was assigned to the battleship HMS Commonwealth. Over the next three years she patrolled the North Sea, from the Norwegian coast and Shetland in the north to Dogger Bank in the south. On 1st August 1915, Ellis receive a further promotion, holding the rank of Petty Officer for the remainder of his time on board Commonwealth.

On 18th February 1917, Ellis’ life came to an abrupt end. There is little information available about his passing, one record stating that he died from an injury to his kidney which was as a result of an accident, while another states ‘rupture of kidney caused through [a] fall’. HMS Commonwealth seems to have been moored in Chatham, however, as he passed away in the town’s Royal Naval Hospital. He was 29 years of age.

Petty Officer Sayer’s next-of-kins were noted as his sister, Mrs J Andrews, who lived in Norwich, and a friend, Mrs Ethel Hampton, who lived in Gillingham, Kent.

Ellis Edward Sayer’s body was laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, not far from the dockyard he had called home for so long.

accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, Kent, London, photography, Private, Royal Marines, story, war

Private John Merritt

Leave a comment
Private John Merritt

John Merritt was born on 17th August 1880 in Shoreditch, London, and was the youngest of three children to James and Emily Merritt. James was a dock labourer, who passed away when his son was just four years old. Emily remarried the following year, having a child with her new husband, George Wise, in 1888.

When he completed his schooling, John found work as a stoker. However, he sought bigger and better things and, on 21st February 1898, he enlisted in the Royal Marine Light Infantry. Not yet eighteen years old, his service records show that he was 5ft 5.5ins (1.64m) tall, with grey eyes, brown hair and a fresh complexion. His service records also record a couple of tattoos: an anchor on his left forearm, and a crossed heart on his right.

Over the next two decades, Private Merritt sailed and saw the world. Primarily based out of the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, he served on ten ships in all. His superiors obviously thought highly of him, as his records note his character and ability as very good throughout his service.

On 3rd July 1909, John married Harriett Wise. She was a lighterman’s daughter from East London, who was working as a cork cutter when the couple exchanged their vows. They went on to have two children: Florence, who was born in 1910, and Reginald, who came along six years later.

By the time war was declared in the summer of 1914, John seems to have been mainly shore-based, his time being split between Chatham and Portsmouth, Hampshire.

On 7th March 1917, Private Merritt was on board the gunboat HMS Spey, which was carrying out diving operations in the Thames Estuary. At 4 o’clock in the afternoon, in “bitterly cold and boisterous conditions” [Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald: Saturday 24th March 1917], the ship lost an anchor, and the decision was made to return to base at Sheerness, Kent. Another vessel, the HMS Belvedere, was close by and turned towards the Spey, and, despite trying to avoid a collision, the smaller ship was struck a glancing blow.

The Spey was 40 years old, and the impact sheered numerous rivets from the side. Water gushed in, and the gunboat sunk beneath the Thames within a matter of minutes. Some of the crew had managed to escape on a life raft, but it was not fitted with lights or flags. The boat drifted and was not found until five hours later, partially submerged: all on board had died.

In total, twenty of the thirty-seven crew perished on that March afternoon, including Private Merritt. He was 36 years of age.

It would seem that Harriett was unable to cover the cost of bringing her late husband’s body back to London for burial. Instead, John Merritt was laid to rest in Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent, not far from the naval base in Chatham which he had called home for so long.

Able Seaman, accident, Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Kent, London, Middlesex, Ordinary Seaman, photography, Royal Navy, story, war

Able Seaman Horace Freeman

Leave a comment
Able Seaman Horace Freeman

Horace James Freeman was born in Hackney, East London, on 16th September 1879. The second of five children, his parents were Archibald and Mary Freeman. According to the 1891 census, Archibald was employed as a carman, but the next document had him listed simply as a ‘traveller’.

When he completed his schooling, Horace found work as a baker’s assistant. He sought bigger and better things, however, and, on 13th February 1897, he enlisted in the Royal Navy. His service records show that he was 5ft 5.5ins (1.66m) tall, with brown hair, hazel eyes and a fresh complexion.

A few months under full age, Horace was initially given the rank of Boy 2nd Class. He was sent to the training ship HMS Northampton, and seemingly impressed his superiors, rising to Boy 1st Class within a couple of months. He moved to another training vessel, HMS Calliope, in July 1897, and was serving on board when he came of age that September.

Now formally inducted into the Royal Navy, Ordinary Seaman Freeman began what was to be an eighteen year career at sea. He would become based at HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, and went on to serve aboard nine ships during his time.

Promoted to the rank of Able Seaman in October 1899, Horace’s time in the navy was not to be without incident. He spent eight separate periods of time in the cells, 158 days in total. Full details of his misdemeanours are lost to time, but at least on at least one occasion he was placed in the brig for refusing orders.

On Christmas Day 1911, Horace married Sarah Byatt. She was a bricklayer’s daughter from Tottenham, and the couple went on to have two children: Clifford, born in 1913, and Leslie, born two years later.

While Sarah was looking after their young family, Horace spent a lot of his time at sea. As time moved on, however, he was based at HMS Pembroke for longer spells, and it was while he was in Chatham early in 1916 that fate befell him.

The body of Horace J Freeman, an able seaman of the RFR, who had been missing from his ship since February 25th, was found floating in South Lock at Chatham Dockyard on Saturday.

[South Eastern Gazette: Tuesday 11th April 1916]

Little additional information is available about Horace’s death, and it is unclear how he had fallen into the lock. He was 36 years of age.

The body of Able Seaman Horace James Freeman was laid to rest in Gillingham’s Woodlands Cemetery, not far from the naval base he had called home for so long.

accident, Cadet, Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Glamorganshire, Gloucestershire, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, Isle of Wight, Kent, Lance Corporal, photography, Private, Royal Artillery, Sergeant, Somerset, South Africa, South Wales Borderers, story, Wales, war, Wiltshire, Wiltshire Regiment, Yorkshire

Serjeant Fred Maynard

Leave a comment
Serjeant Fred Maynard

Details of Fred Maynard’s early life are a challenge to piece together. His First World War service records give his age as 44 years old when he enlisted in September 1914, and confirm his place of birth as Melksham, Wiltshire.

A newspaper report of his funeral gives the name of three brothers – Charles, Frank and Arthur – while only one census return, from 1881, provides a potential match for the family. This suggests Fred’s parents were iron fitter Alfred Maynard and his wife, Deborah, and gives the family’s address as Waterworks Road in Trowbridge.

Fred joined the army in the autumn of 1888. Initially assigned to the Gloucestershire Regiment, he had transferred to the Wiltshire Regiment by the following spring. Private Maynard showed a commitment to duty: in December 1890 he was promoted to Lance Corporal, rising to Corporal in the summer of 1893.

Fred was stood down to reserve status after his seven years’ active duty, but was recalled to the army in December 1899, when war broke out in South Africa. Promoted to Serjeant, he was sent to fight in the Boer War, and was mentioned in dispatches on 2nd April 1901 for special and meritorious service in South Africa. He was stood back down to reserve status in October 1901.

On 21st November 1895, Fred had married Louisa Card. The couple set up home in Trowbridge, but soon moved to London. They went on to have six children: Ernest, Nora and Leslie, who were all born in the London; and Arthur, Martha and Stuart, who were born in Cardiff, the family having moved to Wales by 1910.

The army was not finished with Fred, however, and, within weeks of war breaking out in the summer of 1914, he was called back into service. Given the rank of Serjeant again, he was attached to the South Wales Borderers. Fred was 44 years of age by this point, his service records confirming that he stood 5ft 8ins (1.73m) tall, weighed 164lbs (74.4kg) and had brown hair and hazel eyes.

Attached to one of the regiment’s depots, it seems unlikely that Fred saw service overseas this time around. He was discharged from the army on 1st September 1916 and this seems to have been on medical grounds. Later documents suggest that Serjeant Maynard had been diagnosed with carcinoma of the pylorus, or stomach cancer.

Fred returned to Cardiff, but his time back home was to be short. He was admitted to the Lansdown Road Military Hospital, and passed away on 23rd November 1916. He was 46 years of age.

It seems that Fred’s brother’s had some sway in his funeral. Instead of being laid to rest in Cardiff, where Louisa and the children were living, he was, instead, buried in the Locksbrook Cemetery, Bath, Somerset. His sibling Charles, who was a sergeant in Bath City Police, lived in the city, as did another brother, Frank.

Fred’s headstone also commemorates his and Louisa’s son, Leslie. He had joined the army in the 1920s and, in the summer of 1943, was in Yorkshire, undergoing officer training.

The death of an officer cadet through the accidental discharge of a rifle whose bolt had jammed was described at an inquest…

Captain WH Price said he was in charge of an exercise on the moors which involved the used of small arms and the firing of live ammunition. A squad of cadets lay on the ground in front of a trench firing over a range. All finished firing except Cadet Frank Holroyd, who said his bolt had hammed while firing a second round. [Price] told him to release the bolt by knocking the cocking piece up and back.

This attempt failed, and he told Holroyd to get back into the trench, turn the rifle magazine upwards, place the butt on the side of the trench, and kick the bolt down with his foot. While Holroyd was doing this he noticed Maynard standing in the trench about 4ft away from Holroyd and on his right-hand side.

Captain Price said he saw the rifle was pointing down the range when Holroyd kicked the butt. The cartridge suddenly exploded and Maynard dropped into the trench, shot in the head, and was dead when they reached him.

[Bradford Observer: Saturday 19th June 1943]

Officer Cadet Leslie Maynard was 36 years of age when he was killed. His body was taken back to Somerset for burial: he was laid to rest in the same grave as Fred, father and son reunited after 27 years.

Louisa remained somewhat elusive as time wore on. Fred’s military records confirm that she had moved from Cardiff to the Isle of Wight by 1922. By the time of her son’s death, she was living in Sidcup, Kent.

accident, Air Mechanic, Captain, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, photography, Royal Air Force, Somerset, story, war, Wiltshire

Captain Lewis White

Leave a comment
Captain Lewis White

Lewis Scott White was born at the start of 1896 in Bath, Somerset. The youngest of four children, his parents were surgeon Edward White and his wife, Fanny. The 1911 census recorded the family living in a substantial property in Green Park: the now medical practitioner Edward, Fanny and Lewis sharing the 12-room house with a servant, Ellen Fry.

As befitting of his station in life, Lewis’ education was a well rounded one: “[he] was educated at Bath College and Kelly College, Tavistock, and was coached for his matriculation examination by Mr Samuel Edwards, of Grosvenor College. He exhibited a fondness for aeronautics when quite a lad. While at Victoria College he evinced much enthusiasm for the art of flying, and made models of flying machines. One of these miniature planes he flew successfully on Lansdown, and we believe showed at an exhibition in London. He was one of the leading spirits in the Bath Aerial Club, which used to meet at the Church Institute.” [Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette – Saturday 06 October 1917]

Lewis’s mechanical mind was put to good use in his working life as well. He found employment as a motor fitter, and this is what he was doing when war broke out in the summer of 1914. He felt duty bound to service his King and his Country, and, on 20th October, he enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps as an Air Mechanic. His service records confirm the man he had become: at 18 years of age, he was 5ft 4ins (1.63m) tall and weighed 117lbs (53kg). He had dark brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion.

His skill and daring earned promotion, and he was given a commission… He accomplished many fine feats in actual aerial warfare on the Western Front, and for one of these some months ago he was awarded the Military Cross. He was acting as an observer when the flight occurred; the pilot in the same machine was given the DSO.

While wearing only one wing he came home to England to train as a pilot. He rapidly passed all the tests for this, and obtained the two wings, and was gazetted Captain of the RFC on May 5th last. It was only on Wednesday last week that Captain White attended an investiture at Buckingham Palace and was decorated by the King with the MC. So complete was his mastery of flying machines and so great his initiative that Captain White was appointed Flight Instructor, and for the last two months he had been Flight Commander quartered in Wiltshire.

[Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette – Saturday 06 October 1917]

On 29th September 1917, Captain White was piloting a Sopwith Camel from RAF Yatesbury, Wiltshire, when the aircraft failed to pull up from a dive. It crashed into the ground and Lewis was killed instantly. He was just 21 years of age.

It is no secret that the aeronaut whose intrepid feats in the air above Bath of late had caused much notice was Captain White. He would loop the loop with the greatest ease, and his nose-diving was most daring. When questioned why he performed these dangerous acts in the air Captain White would declare that there was no risk from engine trouble unless a man ‘lost his head,’ and apparently he had no idea that is was possible for him to get into difficulties from that cause. It is to be surmised therefore that in the accident which had cost his life, so especially valuable to the country now, something beyond engine trouble must have happened.

To stay-at-home and peacefully minded citizens some of the manoeuvring by aeroplanes in flight savours too much of the sensational, and they are apt to think that it is unnecessarily throwing away chances. But such an impression is as unjust as it is unkind. The strange evolutions described by machines in mid-air are just the kind that have to be executed in actual aerial warfare when seeking to gain an advantage over the foe, and unless this preliminary training were carefully and systematically gone through it would be hopeless to seek to acquire the necessary skill in the moment of crisis. Captain White was absolutely fearless, and his death will be deeply deplored by by many comrades who knew his worth.

[Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette – Saturday 06 October 1917]

A subsequent inquest found no immediate cause for the crash, but suggested that Captain White may have misjudged the distance whilst diving and flew into ground.

The body of Lewis Scott White was brought back to Somerset for burial He was laid to rest in the majestic Locksbook Cemetery in Bath, his funeral attracting a full page report in the city’s Chronicle and Weekly Gazette.

Captain Lewis White
(from findagrave.com)
accident, Canadian Engineers, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, photography, Royal Air Force, Second Lieutenant, Somerset, story, United States of America, war, Wiltshire

Second Lieutenant Leo Aldrich

Leave a comment
Second Lieutenant Leo Aldrich

Leo Edwin Aldrich was born on 14th July 1897 in the Ohio city of Elyria, and was the only child to Hiram and Agnes Aldrich. Hiram was a machinist from New York and, by the time of the 1910 census, he had found work as a toolmaker for a motor company, and the family has moved to Detroit, Michigan, 150 miles (240km) along Lake Erie’s coastline.

When war came to Europe, Leo seemed keen to get involved. Full details of his military service are lost to time, but it seems that he enlisted in the Canadian Royal Engineers. By the summer of 1918, Leo was in Britain, and had transferred to the Royal Air Force. He had reached the rank of Second Lieutenant and was based at Yatesbury Airfield in Wiltshire.

On 14th November 1918, just three days after the Armistice was signed, he was flying in a Bristol F2b fighter aircraft, when it nosedived into the ground. Both Second Lieutant Aldrich and his passenger Second Lieutenant McDougall were seriously injured, and were taken to Bath War Hospital for treatment.

Sadly, Leo’s injuries were to prove to be too severe. He passed away the same day: he was just 21 years of age.

Leo Edwin Aldrich was laid to rest in Locksbrook Cemetery, not far from the hospital in which he passed.

Leo’s service records suggest that his next of kin was his wife, Mrs Leo Aldrich of 480 East 112th Street, Cleveland, Ohio. There are no identifiable marriage records for him although, intriguingly another one does exist.

This confirms the wedding of a George L Aldrich to a Helen J Seymour on 6th August 1918 in Cuyahoga, Ohio. As the names do not match, the record would normally be dismissed, but the parents’ names – Hiram and Agnes – match Leo’s, as does the place of birth – Elyria – and his occupation – Second Lieutenant.

Further details for Helen Seymour, and why Leo may have given the name George, are lost to time.

accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Cook, Cook's Mate, County Antrim, Great War, history, Kent, killed in action, photography, Royal Navy, story, war

Ship’s Cook Walter Griffin

2 Comments
Ship’s Cook Walter Griffin

Walter Griffin was born on 15th December 1886 in Woolwich, Kent. Details of his early life are lost to time, but, by the time of the 1901 census, he was working as a cooper’s mate at a cement factory in Higham, Kent.

Walter sought bigger and better things for himself, and, on 19th June 1907, he enlisted in the Royal Navy as Cook’s Mate 2nd Class. His service records confirm that he was 5ft 4ins (1.62m) tall, with brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion.

Walter was initially sent just down the coast to the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, for his training. He remained there for nine months, and was promoted to Cook’s Mate 1st Class for his service.

In January 1908, he was given his first posting, on board HMS Wildfire, and, over the next nine years, he served on a further four ships, returning to Chatham in between postings. Walter was obviously dedicated to the work he was doing: in January 1910 he was promoted to Leading Cook’s Mate, and by 1917, he was promoted again, to the ran of Ship’s Cook.

This promotion coincided with a transfer to what would be his last assignment, on board HMS Racoon. This Beagle-class destroyer patrolled the waters between Scotland and Northern Ireland, and he spent the winter of 1917/18 on board.

On 9th January 1918, there were storm conditions off the Irish coast: high seas and blizzard limited limited vision. At 2am, the Racoon struck rocks, and foundered: in the treacherous conditions, all hands were lost. Shio’s Cook Griffin was 31 years of age.

Walter Griffin’s body washed ashore near the village of Ballintoy, Country Antrim, the following day. He was laid to rest in the parish church, next to two other crew members, Ordinary Seaman Frank Green and Stoker 2nd Class Frederick Sarell.

accident, Commonwealth War Graves, County Antrim, Essex, Great War, history, Ireland, killed in action, Northern Ireland, photography, Royal Navy, Stoker, story, war

Stoker 2nd Class Frederick Sarell

2 Comments
CWG: Stoker 2nd Class Frederick Sarell

Frederick Clifford Sarell was born on 6th July 1899, one of six children to James and Theresa. James was a general labourer from East London, and the family were born and brought up in West Ham, Essex.

The Sarell family were beset by tragedy: Frederick’s oldest brother, James, died in 1903, at the age of 23, while James Sr passed away three years later. By the time of the 1911 census, Theresa was raising her five remaining children in a small house in Fife Road, Canning Town, with her oldest three children bringing in some money to support the family,

In 1913, another of Frederick’s brothers, George, passed away, and the following year his oldest sister, Theresa Jr, also died. By the summer of 1917, with war raging across Europe, Frederick stepped up to play his part. It is unclear whether his motives were to support his mother, or because he was conscripted, but either way he enlisted in the Royal Navy.

Frederick had been working as a dock labourer when he signed up. He Employed as a Stoker 2nd Class, his naval records show that he was 5ft 6.5ins (1.69m) tall, with brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion. He was noted as having a scar on his right knee, a distinguishing mark that would tragically help to identify his body before the year was out.

Stoker Sarell was initially sent to HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, for his training. On 10th October 1917, he was given his first posting, on board the destroyer HMS Racoon, which patrolled the seas between Ireland and Scotland.

Frederick was on board when, on 9th January 1918, the Racoon struck rocks off the coast of Northern Ireland in heavy seas and blizzard conditions. All of the crew – more than 90 men – were lost. Stoker 2nd Class Sarell was just eighteen years old when he died: he had been in the Royal Navy for less than six months.

The body of Frederick Clifford Sarell washed ashore near Ballintoy, County Antrim. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of the village’s church next to two other crew members, Ordinary Seaman Frank Green and Ship’s Cook Walter Griffin.