Category Archives: Royal Naval Reserve

Commonwealth War Graves, Engineman, Great War, history, Kent, killed in action, Norfolk, photography, Royal Naval Reserve, story, war

Engineman John Raven

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Engineman John Raven

The loss of another Gorleston man in the service of King and Country is recorded this week in the death of Chief-Engineer John Edmund Raven, RNR, of 46, John-road, Gorleston, who was among the victims of the air raid at Chatham on September 3rd. Chief-Engineer Raven, who was 43 years of age, had been in the Service nearly three years, and was sailing from this port. Some seven weeks ago he was taken ill and went to Chatham to undergo an operation, following which he was allowed home for a few days and returned to Chatham Naval Barracks on the sick list, where he was on the night of the raid. He was very popular with his comrades at the Naval Base at Gorleston, and his loss is much regretted by the crew of his ship. To his widow and two children every sympathy has been extended in this heavy blow which follows hard on the loss a few weeks ago of her daughter after a brief illness.

[Yarmouth Mercury: Saturday 15th September 1917]

John Edmund Raven was born on 28th December 1872 in Caister, Norfolk. The middle of six children, he was the youngest of three sons to Robert and Ann Raven. Robert was a farm labourer-turned-fisherman, and, after his untimely death in 1883, it was the sea to which his son turned to support his widowed mother.

In the autumn of 1902, John married Eliza Casey. A milkman’s daughter from Gorleston, Norfolk, she was employed as a domestic servant when the couple exchanged vows. They set up home at 46 John Road, Gorleston, and went on to have three children: Elsie (who would pass shortly before her father), Gladys and Jack.

Little further information is available about John’s life. As the newspaper report suggests, he joined the Royal Naval Reserve as an Engineman towards the end of 1914, and was based out of HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent.

On the night of the 3rd September 1917, Engineman Raven was billeted in temporary accommodation set up in the dockyard’s Drill Hall. That night, an audacious raid by German bombers landed two explosives directly on the building, shattering its glass roof, and killing dozens of the men sleeping within. John was one of those to be killed. Contrary to his obituary suggested, he was actually 45 years of age.

The body of John Edmund Raven was taken back to Norfolk for burial. He was laid in the family plot, reunited with his daughter, Elsie, far too soon.

[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.]

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Engineman George Rae

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Engineman George Rae

George William Rae was born on 7th February 1883 in South Shields, Country Durham. The youngest of five children, he was one of four sons to Henry and Elizabeth Rae. Henry was a boatman, and it seemed inevitable that George would follow in his father’s footsteps.

There are big gaps in George’s timeline: the 1891 census found him living with his aunt and uncle. The next record for him confirms his marriage to Mary Elizabeth Smith in January 1904. There is scant information for her, but the couple had five children, three of whom died before they reached their first birthday.

Tragedy followed tragedy: George’s father died in 1908, and his mother passed the following year. Mary died shortly after the birth of her and George’s last child, also named George, in 1911. The census taken that year recorded George Sr as a fireman aboard the coal hulk Haytian, which was moored in Portland Harbour, Dorset. He was one of the vessel’s sixteen crew members.

Now a widow, George had two children to support. In the summer of 1913, he married a second time, to Elizabeth Flood. Again, there is little information available about her, but the couple went on to have a child, daughter Emily, who was born in the summer of 1914.

Conflict was closing in on Europe by this point, and on 24th March 1916, George formally joined the Royal Naval Reserve. His service record shows that he was 5ft 4ins (1.63m) tall, with blue eyes and a fair complexion. He was also noted as having a tattoo of a woman and two flags across his chest.

Engineman Rae was assigned to the gunboat-turned-minesweeper HMS Halcyon. She remained his home for the next eighteen months, patrolling off the coast of East Anglia. By the summer of 1917, George became shore-based, initially at HMS Actaeon in Portsmouth, Hampshire, then at HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent.

Pembroke was a busy and overcrowded place at this point in the war. The battleship HMS Vanguard had sunk, and its replacement crew – who were stationed in Chatham – were left in limbo while new postings were found for them. The base also suffered an outbreak of meningitis, and temporary accommodation was set up to space out the servicemen and, hopefully, slow the spread of the disease. Engineman Rae found himself in one of these speedily-created barracks in the dockyard’s Drill Hall.

On the night of the 3rd September 1917, four German aircraft carried out a daring raid on the North Kent coast. Chatham came under fire, and two explosives landed a direct hit on the Drill Hall. Dozens of men were killed while they were sleeping, and many more – including Engineman Rae – were injured.

George was taken to the Royal Naval Hospital in Chatham for treatment, but his wounds would ultimately prove fatal. He succumbed to them on 11th September 1917, at the age of 34 years old.

The body of George William Rae was taken back to County Durham for burial. He was laid to rest in South Shields’ Harton Cemtery.

Tragedy would continue to haunt the Rae family. Elizabeth died a year after her husband, leaving three children – two from George’s first marriage, and one from his second – orphans. Sadly, there is little additional informational about what happened to them – none appear in the 1921 census.

[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.]

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Stoker 1st Class Alfred Moss

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Stoker 1st Class Alfred Moss

Alfred George Moss was born in West Ham, Essex, on 14th February 1885. One of eight children, his parents were John and Sarah Moss. John was a leather worker, but Alfred initially found work as a butcher’s assistant when he completed his schooling.

Butchery wasn’t the career that Alfred sought, however, and, on 12th November 1903, he enlisted in the Royal Navy as a Stoker 2nd Class. His service papers note that he was 5ft 9ins (1.75m) tall, with brown hair, hazel eyes and a fresh complexion. He was also recorded as having a scar on both knees.

Stoker Moss was sent to HMS Acheron, a training ship based on the Thames Estuary, for his initial service. He stayed there until July 1904, when he was given his first sea-going assignment, on board the cruiser HMS Terpsichore. She would remain his home for the next eighteen months, during which he was promoted to Stoker 1st Class.

Alfred seems to have been a steady worker, his annual reviews noting a very good character. In November 1908, having come to the end of his five year contract, he was stood down to reserve status. He had served on four vessels and, when not at sea, HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, became his home from home.

Alfred is missing from the 1911 census, but turns up on 21st December 1913. On that day he married Ellen Lipscombe in All Saints’ Church, West Ham. Nellie, as she was known, was the oldest of seven children to plasterer Tomas Lipscombe. The couple set up home on Grafton Road, Plaistow, and went on to have a son, Thomas, the year after exchanging vows.

When war was declared, Alfred was called back into service. He returned to Pembroke, and spent the next year split between there and HMS Victory, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth, Hampshire. In the summer of 1915, Stoker 1st Class Moss was assigned to the cruiser HMS Europa. For the next two years, he would be based in the Eastern Mediterranean, supporting the troops in and around the Gallipoli peninsula.

By the summer of 1917, Alfred was back at Pembroke, which, by this point in the war, was a busy and overcrowded place. The sinking of HMS Vanguard meant that her replacement crew were stuck in port waiting to be reassigned, and an outbreak of meningitis demanded more space to slow or stop its spread. Stoker 1st Class Moss found himself barracked in overflow accommodation set up in the dockyard’s Drill Hall.

On the night of the 3rd September 1917, German bombers launched an audacious raid on the North Kent Coast. Two bombs landed on the Drill Hall, shattering its glass roof, and killing dozens of sleeping servicemen beneath. Stoker 1st Class Moss was one of those who lost his life: He was 32 years of age.

The body of Alfred George Moss was taken back to Essex for burial. He was laid to rest in West Ham Cemetery, not far from where his grieving widow and young son were living.

[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.]

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Stoker Neil Moore

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Leading Stoker Neil Moore

Neil Moore was born on 17th April 1882 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire. One of twelve children, he was the second son to John and Jane Moore. John was a cabinetmaker and, according to the 1891 census, the family lived in rooms at 13 Melville Street in the city’s Govan district.

Although little is known about Neil’s early life, his enlistment in the Royal Naval Reserve on 26 July 1904 offers the first clear insight into the young man he had become. His service papers describe him as twenty-two years old, 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) tall, with grey eyes and fair hair.

Over the next decade, Stoker Moore travelled the world, taking in Canada and South America. There were times when he was out of work – he was recorded as seeking employment over the winter of 1912 – but his work appears to have been steadfast.

Intriguingly, after a stint on the SS Sardinian, Neil left the Royal Naval Reserve on 17th November 1913. He was re-engaged on 17th December, but is then reported as having deserted just three days later. He was then recorded as being assigned to HMS Wildfire – a shore base in Northwood, Middlesex – on 3rd February 1914.

It is possible that it was around this time that Neil got married. His wife was called Elizabeth, but there is little further information about her.

When war broke out, Stoker Moore appears to have been formally mobilised once more. Over the next three years, he served on half-a-dozen vessels, before finally being attached to HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, in the spring of 1917.

Over the course of that summer, Pembroke was hit by two significant challenges. The battleship HMS Vanguard was sunk in Scapa Flow, leaving its planned replacement crew stuck in the Kent dockyard with nowhere to go. At the same time, a bout of spotted fever broke out and more space was needed to slow the transmission of the contagious disease.

Pembroke’s Drill Hall was brought into use as temporary accommodation, and this is where, in September 1917, Stoker Moore found himself billeted.

On the night of the 3rd September, the German air force carried out an audacious raid on North Kent. Four aircraft bombed Chatham, and two devices landed direct hits on the Drill Hall. The glass roof shattered, raining shards onto the sleeping men below. Stoker Moore was badly injured, and he was transported to the town’s Royal Naval Hospital for treatment. Sadly, this would prove ineffective, and Neil died from his injuries on 8th September 1917. He was 35 years of age.

The body of Neil Moore was taken back to Scotland for burial. He was laid to rest in St Kentigern’s Roman Catholic Cemetery, to the north of the city centre.

[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.]

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Stoker Samuel Hadley

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Stoker Samuel Hadley

Samuel Hadley was born in Bilston, Staffordshire, on 1st July 1892. The fifth of six children, his parents were Edward and Mary Hadley. Edward worked in the local iron works and, the family lived on Cross Street, to the south of the town centre.

Opportunities awaited elsewhere, however, and by the time of the 1911 census, the Hadley family had moved to Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham. Iron foundries were a key industry in the area, and census found four members of the household – Samuel, his two older brothers, Edward Jr and Matthew, and father Edward Sr – all employed at the Bowesfield Steel Works. The house at 28 Grove Street was crowded, with Thomas Green, another foundry worker, also boarding there.

When war broke out, all three brother enlisted. Samuel joined the Royal Naval Reserve on 15th January 1915, and was sent to HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, for his training. His papers show that he was a little under 5ft 9ins (1.75m) tall, with brown eyes and a fair complexion. He had a scar on his left leg following an operation for varicose veins.

Over the next two years, Stoke Hadley served on three vessels – the depot ships HMS Tyne, HMS Crescent and HMS Royal Arthur. All three served in Scottish waters, and Samuel spent time in the Firth of Forth and Scapa Flow. By the summer of 1917, however, he was back in Kent, billeted at HMS Pembroke while he awaited his next posting.

Chatham Dockyard was a bustling and packed place at that point in the war. The battleship HMS Vanguard had been sunk, and its replacement crew were stuck at Pembroke while the authorities organised alternative attachments. There was also an outbreak of spotted fever, and the precautions were taken to space out the crowded barracks. Stoker Hadley found himself billeted in temporary accommodation in the base’s Drill Hall.

On the 3rd September 1917, the first night air raid carried out by the German Air Force bombarded Chatham. Two bombs landed squarely on the Drill Hall, and Stoker Hadley was among the dozens of sleeping men to be killed. He was just 25 years of age.

The body of Samuel Hadley was taken back to Stockton-on-Tees for burial. He was laid to rest in the town’s Oxbridge Lane Cemetery.

Samuel’s older brother Matthew chose the army when he enlisted. A Private in the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, he was attached to the 11th Battalion. By the spring of 1917, he was caught up in the Arras Offensive. He was killed on the opening day of the First Battle of the Scarpe. Private was 27 years of age, and is commemorated Arras Memorial.

[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.]

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Leading Seaman Alfred Gladwell

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Leading Seaman Alfred Gladwell

Alfred Eldred Gladwell was born in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, on 15th November 1885. The oldest of three children, his parents were Eldred and Emma. Eldred was a bricklayer, and his son followed him into that trade.

Away from labouring, Alfred also took time to join the Royal Naval Reserve. He enlisted on the 8th January 1910, his service papers showing the young man he had become. He was noted as being 5ft 11.5ins (1.82m) tall, with blue eyes and a fair complexion. He was also noted as having a scar on his left leg.

Alfred’s time at sea was focused on the Essex coast, with trips to Colchester, Brightlingsea, and across the Thames to Chatham, Kent. By the time that war was declared in 1914, he had risen to the rank of Leading Seaman and, being on reserve status, he was called into action when hostilities commenced.

Leading Seaman Gladwell was sent to HMS Pembroke – the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham – and this would remain his base during the conflict. In February 1915, he was assigned to the SS Palma, which served off the Spanish coast. By the summer of 1917, however, Alfred was back at Pembroke to await his next posting.

The dockyard was overly busy that summer, with a replacement crew for HMS Vanguard waiting to be reassigned following its sinking and an outbreak of meningitis to contend with. Leading Seaman Gladwell was billeted in temporary accommodation that had been set up in the dockyard’s Drill Hall.

On the night of 3rd September 1917, Chatham suddenly found itself in the firing line as a wave of German aircraft bombed the town. The Drill Hall received direct hits from two bombs, and Leading Seaman Gladwell was one of dozens of men to be killed. He was 31 years of age.

The body of Alfred Eldred Gladwell was taken back to Essex for burial. He was laid to rest in Clacton Cemetery, not far from where his family was still living.

[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.]

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Engineman John Foreman

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Engineman John Foreman

John Kerr Foreman was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, on 18th December 1878. The son of Thomas and Jessie, details of his early life are sparse. The 1881 census records him living on York Street with Jessie, while the next return notes him as living just round the corner at 4 Links Street with his paternal grandfather, Jessie Kerr.

Thomas’ absence from the documents would suggest that he was away at the time the details were taken. John’s grandfather was a fish labourer, and the family lived next to the port. It is likely that Thomas was a fisherman or part of a boat crew, and a life at sea was something that his son also fell into.

John does not appear on either the 1901 or 1911 census returns. In the early 1900s he married Lily Craig, the daughter of another fish worker. They went on to have five children between 1905 and 1916 but, like her husband, there is no record of Lily or the family in the early 20th century.

When war broke out, John stepped up to play his part. Joining the Royal Naval Reserve – another hint at an undocumented life at sea – on 36th May 1916, his papers note that he was 5ft 8ins (1.73m) tall, with grey eyes and a fair complexion. He was also recorded as having a number of tattoos: a pierced heart, thistle and the word Scotland on his right arm, and an anchor and his initials on his left.

Engineman Foreman’s time in the navy was actually spent on shore. For eighteen months he was attached to HMS Gunner, the shore base at Granton Harbour, near Edinburgh. In August 1917, however, he was transferred south. He arrived at his new home, HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, on 4th August 1917.

The dockyard was a particularly busy place that summer, and temporary accommodation was set up. John found himself billeted at Chatham Drill Hall, away from the main barracks.

On the night of 3rd September 1917, Chatham suddenly found itself in the firing line, as the German Air Force launched a bombing raid. One of the bombs landed squarely on the Drill Hall, and Engineman Foreman was badly injured. He was taken the naval hospital in the town, but died from his injuries the following day. He was 38 years old.

The body of John Kerr Foreman was taken back to Scotland for burial. He was laid to rest in Aberdeen’s Trinity Cemetery, a short walk from where his family still lived.

Engineman John Foreman
(from findacrage.com)

[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.]

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Stoker Herbert Cooney

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Stoker Herbert Cooney

Herbert Lawrence Cooney was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on 26th April 1890. The fourth of five children, his parents were Thomas and Margaret Cooney.

Thomas is notable by his absence: the 1891 census found Margaret and the children living with her mother at 2 Newton Street. Herbert’s mother died in 1897, and the next census record found him living with her brother’s family at 109 Malcolm Street in Byker.

When Herbert finished his schooling, he took work as a miner. By the time of the 1911 census, he had moved north to the Northumbrian town of Blyth, and was boarding with the Oldfield family in a two-up-two-down terraced house, 17 Goschan Street. Head of the household, Robert Oldfield, was a miner, as were three other members of the household: son William, and stepsons Thomas and George Anderson. Robert’s wife Jean, and her daughter Margaret Anderson, made up the extended family.

When war broke out, Herbert was keen to play his part. Calling on some previous seafaring experience, he enlisted in the Royal Naval Reserve on 30th December 1914, and took the rank of Stoker. His service papers show that he was 5ft 11ins (1.8m) tall, with grey eyes and a dark complexion. He was also noted as having two tattoos on his left forearm: his name H Cooney, and hands across the sea.

Stoker Cooney was initially sent to HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent. On 2nd February 1915, however, he was assigned to the seaplane tender HMS Engadine. Love had blossomed for Herbert during his stay with the Oldfield family and, in the spring of 1916, he married Margaret Anderson, the stepdaughter of his former landlord.

Herbert would spend two years on board Engadine, and was part of her crew during the Battle of Jutland. In the course of the skirmish, the cruiser HMS Warrior was attacked and foundered, and Stoker Cooney’s ship drew alongside and rescued the faltering ship’s crew.

In July 1917, Stoker Cooney returned to Chatham to await his next assignment. The dockyard was overly busy that summer, and he was billeted in temporary accommodation in the town’s Drill Hall.

On the night of 3rd September 1917, Chatham suddenly found itself in the firing line as a wave of German aircraft bombed the town. The Drill Hall received a direct hit, and Stoker Cooney was badly injured. He was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in the town, but his wounds would prove too severe, and he died the following day. He was 27 years of age.

The body of Herbert Lawrence Cooney was taken back to Northumberland for burial. He was laid to rest in Blyth’s Cowpen Cemetery, not far from where his widow was still living with her family.

[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.]

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Engineman Charles Clarke

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Engineman Charles Clarke

Charles Alfred Clarke was born in Lowestoft, Suffolk on 1st June 1888. The middle of eleven children, his parents were William and Jane Clarke. William was a fisherman, and, according to the 1901 census, the family lived at Coopers Cottages, on Hemplands, close to the town centre, and not far from the seafront.

Given his father’s trade, and the fact that his older brothers also followed suit, it is no surprise that Charles found work as a fisherman. The 1911 census recorded him as one of eight crew on board the John & Sarah, a 36ft steam boat, that had moored in Penzance, Cornwall. Charles was noted as being an engineman and fish packer.

Away from the sea, Charles had found love. Clara Fletcher was two years his junior, and was the daughter of publican Samuel, who ran the Mechanic’s Arms on Lowestoft’s Crown Street. The couple exchanged vows in the summer of 1916, the wedding being registered in Mutford, to the south east of their home town.

By this point, and with war raging across Europe, Charles had been called into military duty. Attached to the Royal Naval Reserve from May 1915, he was attached to the torpedo gunboat HMS Halcyon, which acted as a depot ship off the Suffolk coast. His service papers note that he was 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, with hazel eyes and a fresh complexion.

Engineman Clarke remained with Halcyon until the summer of 1917, when he was transferred to HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent. The base was a particularly busy place at that point in the war and temporary accommodation was set up. Engineman Clarke found himself billeted at The Drill Hall, away from the main barracks.

On the night of 3rd September 1917, Chatham suddenly found itself in the firing line, as the German Air Force launched a bombing raid. Two bombs landed squarely on the Drill Hall, shattering its glass roof, and Engineman Clarke was amongst the dozens killed. He was 29 years of age.

The body of Charles Alfred Clarke was taken back to Suffolk for burial. He was laid to rest in the town’s cemetery on Normanston Drive.

[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.]

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Trimmer Thomas Davis

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Trimmer Thomas Davis

The details of Thomas Davis’ early life are a challenge to piece together.

His navy service papers confirm that he was born in Stockton, County Durham, on 25th January 1867, and was the son of John and Ann Davis. The 1881 census found the family living at 66 Argyle Street, Linthorpe, Yorkshire. John was a puddler, working iron in a local foundry, while Thomas, now 15 years of age, was a labourer in the same ironworks.

Thomas falls off the radar for a few years, and it is only his service papers that brings things together again. He enlisted in the Royal Naval Reserve in June 1915, joining up as a Trimmer. The document confirms that he was 5ft 6ins (1.77m) tall with blue eyes and a fair complexion.

Over the next eighteen months, Thomas served on four ships, returning to HMS Pembroke – the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent – in between voyages. His conduct seems to have been average and, in November 1916, he was jailed for 7 days and docked a day’s pay for an unrecorded misdemeanour.

By that winter, Trimmer Davis’ health was faltering, and he was admitted to the Sailor’s Home in Chatham, Kent, suffering from pneumonia. The condition was to get the better of him, and he passed away on 1st February 1917, just a week after his 50th birthday.

The body of Thomas Davis was laid to rest in the naval section of Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, Kent, not far from the naval base he had come to call home.

There is scant information about Thomas’ family. While the 1881 census notes he had a younger brother, Phillip, his service papers give his next-of-kin as cousin William Jones of Wellington Street, Toronto, Canada. (It also notes that communications sent to him were returned unopened.)