Category Archives: Merchant Navy

Commonwealth War Graves, Fireman, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Lancashire, Merchant Navy, photography, Stoker, story, Trimmer, war

Stoker Thomas McCall

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Stoker Thomas McCall

Thomas McCall was born in Bootle, Lancashire, in 1892 and was one of two children to Francis and Elizabeth. Frank was a stoker on the steamers leaving Liverpool docks and, after working at the docks himself, Thomas soon followed his father onto the ships. By the summer of 1911, he had worked as a trimmer on at least two liners, the RMS Carmania and the RMS Empress of Britain.

When war came to Europe, Thomas stepped up, joining the Mercantile Marine Reserve – now better known as the Merchant Navy. By the summer of 1915, he was assigned to the seaplane carrier HMS Vindex, which spent most of the war in the North Sea.

Stoker McCall’s time there was to be brief. Details are sparse, but he passed away on 14th October 1915, with records suggesting this was due to disease. He was just 23 years of age.

Finances may have limited Frank and Elizabeth from bringing their son back to Lancashire: Thomas McCall was instead laid to rest in the Roman Catholic section of Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent, not far from the dockyard in which he had been based.

Thomas’ headstone gives MaCall as his surname. This is an error: his name was spelt McCall.

Commonwealth War Graves, Fireman, Great War, history, Kent, killed in action, Merchant Navy, photography, story, war

Fireman John Donoghue

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Fireman John Donoghue

In the naval section of the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent, stands a headstone to a John Donoghue. The stone states that he was a Fireman on board HMS Princess Irene and that he was killed in action on 27th May 1915. He was 25 years of age.

Further research confirms that he was part of the Mercantile Marine Reserve, but there are no records to confirm his service at sea. While John was born in around 1890, with no confirmation of his place of birth, or the names of his parents, it is impossible to narrow down any further details for him.

Records of the Princess Irene’s crew do not include a John Donoghue, although this does not necessarily mean that he was not serving on board, only that records no longer exist. The fact that he was granted an individual headstone, rather than being commemorated in the mass grave that is also situated in the Woodlands Cemetery suggests that his body was able to be identified.

Sadly, however, Fireman John Donoghue’s life is destined to be lost to time, his legacy to be one of the 352 souls lost during the explosion and sinking of the ship on board which he served.

Commonwealth War Graves, Glamorganshire, Great War, history, illness, injury, Merchant Navy, Ordinary Seaman, photography, Royal Navy, story, Wales, war

Ordinary Seaman William Radford

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Ordinary Seaman William Radford

William Richard Radford was born in the spring of 1900 in Cogan, on the outskirts of Penarth, Glamorgan. He was one of eight children to coal trimmer turned dock labourer Richard Radford and his wife, Susan.

Little information is available about William’s life. What is documented is that he enlisted in the Royal Navy, and, by the time he came of age in 1918, he held the rank of Ordinary Seaman. William was serving at HMS Victory, the Royal Naval Dockyard, by the end of the war.

At this point, details of Ordinary Seaman Radford’s life become a little unclear. He seems to have been stepped down to the Marine Mercantile Reserve, returning home in January 1919, when he passed away. His Pension Ledger Card gives the cause of death as a fractured shoulder, while another document states that he died from a sarcoma.

Whatever the cause of his passing, William Richard Radford was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Augustine’s Church in Penarth. He shared his grave with his mother, who had passed away the previous year. Richard Radford was also buried in the same plot when he passed away in 1926.

Commonwealth War Graves, Cornwall, Great War, history, killed in action, Merchant Navy, photography, Somerset, story, war, wireless operator

Wireless Operator Edward Phillips

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Wireless Operator Edward Phillips

Edward James Phillips was born on 22nd January 1900 in Bedminster, Bristol, and was the oldest of two children to Ernest and Emily Phillips. Ernest was a bit of a jack-of-all-trades; the 1901 census recorded him as being a shopkeeper of glass and china, while by 1911 he was working as an architect’s clerk.

By this point, the family had moved to Chard, Somerset, and had set up home in a small, terraced house near the centre of the town. Storm clouds were gathering over Europe, and, while he was too young to enlist at the start of the war, it is clear that Edward wanted to play his part.

While details of his service are unclear, Edward joined the Merchant Navy. By the summer of 1918 he was on board the SS Polesley, working as a Wireless Operator. A newspaper report expanded on what became of him:

On the 21st September the SS Polesley was torpedoed off the Cornish coast by a German submarine and sunk. Later two bodies wearing life belts of the SS Polesley were washed ashore at Penreath, Cornwall. One of the bodies was identified as that of the mate of the ill fated vessel; the other was not recognised and was buried as unknown, both the gallant seamen being interred in one grave.

On learning that the bodies had been washed ashore form the torpedoed vessel, Mr EE Phillips… forwarded a photograph of his son, Edward James Phillips, who was wireless operator on the vessel, to the police at Penreath, and the undertaker and the person who recovered the bodies were able to identify the unknown remains as Wireless Operator Phillips.

Since then their sworn statements have been forwarded to the Home Office, with the result that the remains have been exhumed, and on Wednesday Mr EE Phillips, the father, went to Penreath and received the remains of his gallant son and brought them to Chard, where they will be interred.

Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser: Wednesday 29th January 1919

Edward James Phillips, who was just 18 years old when he died, was laid to rest in the family plot in Chard Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Donkeyman, Great War, history, Kent, Merchant Navy, photography, story, unknown, war

Donkeyman John Hart

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Donkeyman John Hart

John Hart is someone whose life is destined to be a mystery. He lies at rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent. His gravestone simply states that he was a Donkeyman for the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, and that he passed away on 17th May 1917.

Sadly, without a date or location of birth, it is impossible to narrow down any historic records to a specific John Hart.

The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was a shipping company that transported goods and travellers around the world. Primary routes included the Americas, although it is impossible to confirm which countries John would have visited. His job as a Donkeyman, however, was to help pilot the vessel.

Unfortunately, there is little more to be determined about John’s life. Given that he is buried in a cemetery close to the Naval Dockyard in Chatham, it is likely that this is a port that he sailed out of or into on a regular basis. Sadly, we are unlikely ever to know.