Thomas Roland Wilson was born on 2nd December 1871 in Hythe, Kent. His parents were Thomas and Sarah, but there is little information available about his early life.
The 1881 census recorded Thomas as living with his uncle and aunt in Deptford, Kent. Ten years later, he was living with his parents in Finchley, Middlesex. Thomas Sr was living on his own means, while his son, now 20 years of age, was a mercantile mariner.
On 18th November 1895, Thomas Jr was awarded a certificate of competency as being able to be a master of his own vessel. Five years later, he married Charlotte Chichester. She was the daughter of a master mariner, and the couple appeared to settle in her home town of Braunton, Devon.
When war broke out, Thomas was assigned to the Royal Naval Reserve. Details of his time during the conflict are hazy, but, by 1917, he was in charge of HMS Yacht Vagrant. Built in Jarrow, she had been hired by the Admiralty at the start of the war to act as an anti-submarine vessel, with Captain Wilson leading the crew.
Little further information is available about Thomas’ life, and while the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and his headstone give his rank as Lieutenant Commander, other documents note he was a Captain.
The next available record for him relates to his passing:
The regretted death has occurred of Capt. Wilson, in his 47th year, at Fern Lea, Braunton, the residence of his mother-in-law, Mrs Chichester.
[North Devon Journal: Thursday 18th October 1917]
No cause of death is evident, but Thomas Roland Wilson passed away on 17th October 1917. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Brannock’s Church in Braunton, Devon.
The funeral of Mr Williams… of South-street, took place on Saturday, the interment being made by the Vicar of Braunton (Rev. JH Prince) in the St Brannock’s Churchyard. There were many manifestations of sympathy, and blinds were drawn all along the route to the Churchyard. The Vicar, in the course of a sympathetic and short address to the bereaved relatives, related a touching incident at an interview he had had with the deceased a few days before his death. The Vicar asked him if he would not rather die peacefully at home than out with his comrades, who were keeping the silent vigil on the seas and in conflict with the enemy. The dying sailor replied in the negative, and said he would sooner be with his comrades, fighting for his King and Country. This, said the Vicar, struck the key-note of Mr Williams’ unselfish life, and by his death they had lost an upright and steady inhabitant.
[North Devon Journal: Thursday 22nd March 1917/
John Williams was born on 4th May 1886 in St Agnes, Cornwall. Details of his early life are a challenge to confirm, but the newspaper report goes on to name two of his brothers as Alfred and Cecil, and one of his sisters as Olive. Piecing this information together with census documents, it seems likely that his parents were William and Elizabeth (his pension record gives Mrs B Williams, which may be Bessie).
The 1891 census records the family as living in St Agnes. William is missing, although it is possible that he was away at sea when the return was taken. John does not appear on the 1901 census, but his trail can be picked up again a year later, when he enlisted in the Royal Navy.
John was working as a butcher when he chose a seafaring career path, and he was sent to HMS Impregnable, the training ship moored at Devonport, Devon, for his induction. He was below the age to formally join up, and so was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class.
Over the next two years, John learnt the tools of his trade. He was trained at three Devon bases – Impregnable, HMS Lion and HMS Vivid – and was promoted to Boy 1st Class in February 1903. On 4th May 1904 he came of age, and officially enlisted in the Royal Navy, given the rank of Ordinary Seaman. His service records note that he was just 5ft 1in (1.55m) tall, and had dark brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion.
Ordinary Seaman Williams was on his first formal posting by this point, and was serving on board the gunboat HMS Harrier. By November 1904, however, he was transferred, and became part of the crew of the armoured cruiser, HMS Suffolk. She remained his home for the next eighteen months, during which he was promoted again, to Able Seaman.
Over the next decade, John would serve on a further six ships, returning to HMS Vivid in between assignments. The work, particularly after the outbreak of war, was taking a strain on his health, however, and, on 3rd May 1916, he was medically discharged from duty, suffering from tuberculosis.
By this point, John’s mother had moved to Devon and was living in the village of Braunton. Following his discharge, he returned to live with Elizabeth – Bessie – and remained there until his death some nine months later. John died on 12 March 1917, aged 29.
The body of John Williams was laid to rest in St Brannock’s Churchyard, Braunton.
Arthur Frederic Thornton Phripp was born in Gillingham, Dorset, in the summer of 1894. The middle of three children, and the only son, his parents were Frederick and Kate Phripp. Frederick was a farmer, and the family lived in Slaughter Gate, to the west of the town centre.
The 1911 census recorded Frederick and Kate managing the farm, and raising their youngest child, daughter Lucy. Arthur, however, is missing, and it seems that he had taken started working for the Post Office as a boy clerk. Where he was living is unclear, but later documents suggest that he may have moved to London.
When war broke out, Arthur stepped up to play his part, joining the 1/21st (County of London) Battalion of the London Regiment, which was also known as the First Surrey Rifles. Private Phripp arrived in France on the 16th March 1915 and, over the next couple of years, fought at Loos, the Somme and Messines. He rose through the ranks, reaching Sergeant and, in the autumn of 1917, he was awarded a commission to Second Lieutenant.
Arthur returned to Britain to formally take the commission, and was transferred to the Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment. Back on home soil, it was a chance to see family again, but tragedy was to strike.
A painful sensation was created in the town when it became known that Mrs Kate Phripp, 65, of Slaughtergate Farm, and her son, Arthur TF Phripp, 23, had been killed in the Zeppelin raid on Friday.
At the inquest on seven of the victims on Monday evidence was given that Mr Phripp was stopping with some friends, and his mother went up from Gillingham on Friday to see him. Evidence given by the police showed that warning had been given in every principal thoroughfare in the district where the fatalities occurred, and the theatres had been warned. The bomb came quite unexpectedly. Besides the killed nine people were seriously injured and nine slightly injured. A great amount of glass was smashed. It was mentioned that Mrs Phripp and her son had been attending the theatre, where is was announced that the warning had been given, and that the play would continue until the guns were heard. The play was continued to the end, and the deceased left at their own risk. The Coroner observed that it was clear that some people took the optimistic view that the raid was over. If people went out into the street after a warning they did to at their own risk. A formal verdict was returned, and they commended the work of the police, special constables and ambulance workers, who, they said, had acted promptly and pluckily…
[Bridport News: Friday 26th October 1917]
The Zeppelin that raided London that night had originally been one of eleven aircraft tasked with attacking Britain’s northern industrial towns. But strong winds disrupted the operation, and one airship – L45, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Waldemar Kölle – was blown south instead.
Meanwhile, Second Lieutenant Phripp and his mother had just left His Majesty’s Theatre in the Haymarket, where they had been watching the comedy Chu Chin Chow, and were making their way across Piccadilly Circus, returning to their friend’s house.
By ill twist of fate, at that moment Kölle released a 100kg (220lb) bomb, which exploded in the road outside the Swan & Edgar department store. The resulting explosion destroyed the building’s frontage and left a crater in the road some 10ft (3m) across and 4ft (1.2m) deep. Seven people were killed: this included Kate and her son.
The bodies of Kate and Arthur Phripp were taken back to Dorset for burial. They were laid to rest together in Gillingham Cemetery, not far from where Frederick and Lucy were grieving.
[Note: My thanks go to Tony Otton for his insight into the event that led to the passing of Arthur and his mother.]
Frederick Street was born in the autumn of 1882, and was one of ten children. His parents were James Street and his wife Izett (or Izit, Ezit, or Iyitt, depending on which document you are looking at: both of Frederick’s parents were illiterate, and so there is no consistency in how his mother’s unusual name was spelt). James was a general labour from East Stour, Dorset, but it was in the nearby town of Gillingham where the family were born and raised.
When Frederick completed his schooling, he also took up work as a labourer. In the autumn of 1908 he married Mary White. Born in Yeovil, Somerset, in 1885, she was working as a servant for draper Sidney Clement when the couple exchanged vows. They set up home on Milton Lane, Gillingham, and went on to have two children: Charles, born in 1909, and William, born in 1916.
Frederick had taken work as a gardener by the outbreak of war. He was called upon to play his part and, while full details of his service have been lost to time, it is clear that he had enlisted in the Army Service Corps no earlier than the spring of 1917.
Sent to Kent for his service with the No. 2 Horse Transport Depot Company, Driver Street fell ill with tetanus. He was admitted to the Brook War Hospital in Woolwich, but the condition would prove too severe. Frederick died on 29th October 1917: he was 34 years of age.
The body of Frederick Street was taken back to Dorset for burial: he was laid to rest in Gillingham Cemetery, not far from where his widow and children were still living. This was the second death in the family in six months, James Street having died in March: the location of his burial is unclear.
Alexander McDougall Westgarth was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on the 28th June 1885. The middle of five children, and the only son, his parents were James and Janet Westgarth. James was a mariner, and the family moved to the village of Carlton Colville, on the outskirts of Lowestoft, Suffolk, in the late 1880s.
Alexander found work as a fitter’s apprentice when he finished school, but the sea was in his blood. Janet died in 1903, and by the time of the next census, taken in 1911, her son had enlisted in the Royal Navy and was a Stoker 1st Class. The document found him as part of the crew of the battleship HMS Russell, moored in a harbour on Malta.
On 31st October 1915, Alexander married Mabel Liffen. The daughter of a gas stoker, she also lived in Carlton Colville. She had a daughter, Irene, but there is no evidence that she was Alexander’s, nor that Mabel had a previous marriage.
At this point, Alexander’s trail goes cold. By the summer of 1917, he was based at HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent. It was a particularly overcrowded base by this point in the conflict, with the planned replacement crew for the sunk HMS Vanguard waiting for new assignments, and an outbreak of meningitis meaning space was at an absolute premium. In the midst of this, Stoker 1st Class Westgarth was billeted in temporary accommodation in the dockyard’s Drill Hall.
On the night of the 3rd September 1917, Chatham was hit by an unexpected German air raid. Two bombs landed squarely on the Drill, shattering its glass roof, and killing dozens of men. Stoker Westgarth was badly injured, and was rushed to the Royal Naval Hospital in the town. His injuries would prove fatal and he passed away the day after the attack: he was 32 years of age.
The body of Alexander McDougall Westgarth was taken back to Suffolk for burial: he was laid to rest in Kirkley Cemetery, Lowestoft.
[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.]
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.]
William Edward Sullivan was born in Newport, Monmouthshire, on the 9th November 1898. He was one of seven children to John and Mary Sullivan. John was an iron dresser at a local foundry, but also worked as a grocer. The 1901 census found the family living at 15 Church Street, to the south of the town centre, but by 1911 they had moved to a larger property, 2 Scard Street.
When William finished his schooling, he took up work as a clerk. War broke out in the summer of 1914, and he would be called upon to play his part. On the 18th September 1916, he enlisted in the Royal Navy, taking the rank of Ordinary Seaman. His service papers show that he was 5ft 6.5ins (1.69m) tall, and that he had light brown hair, brown eyes and a fair complexion.
Ordinary Seaman Sullivan was sent to HMS Victory, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth, Hampshire, for his training. By the end of May 1917, however, he had been transferred to HMS Pembroke, which was also known as Chatham Dockyard.
The base was a busy and overcrowded place by this point in the war, with a number of factors leading to temporary accommodation being set up in the dockyard’s Drill Hall. This is where William, who appears to have been waiting for his first formal posting, was billeted.
On the 3rd September 1917, the German air force carried out a daring night time raid on the North Kent coast. Chatham was in the firing line, and two bombs scored direct hits on the Drill Hall. Its glass roof shattered, raining shards down on the sleeping men. Dozens were killed in the explosions, and tens more, including Ordinary Seaman Sullivan, were wounded.
William was taken to the Royal Naval Hospital in Chatham for treatment, but his wounds would prove to be too severe. He passed away on the 4th September 1917, aged just 18 years old.
The body of William Edward Sullivan was taken back to Wales for burial. He was laid to rest in St Woolos’ Cemetery, a short walk from where his family still lived.
[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.]
William James Steed was born on 3rd August 1897 in the village of Reculver, near Herne Bay, Kent. The oldest of three children, he was the only son to Gilbert and Edith Steed. Gilbert was a platelayer for the South Eastern and Chatham Railway, and the family lived in the hamlet of Hillborough.
When he finished his schooling, William took up work as a general labourer. “…he worked for Mr Hardy in the building of the King’s Hall at Herne Bay, and on the Herne and Reculver Sewage Works, and subsequently at the colliery at Westbere.” [Herne Bay Press: Saturday 15th September 1917]
Gilbert died in September 1912 and, when war broke out, William stepped up to serve his country. He enlisted in the Royal Navy on 9th November 1915, taking the role of Stoker 2nd Class. His service records show that he was 5ft 10.5ins (1.79m) tall, and had light brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion. He was also noted as having a linear scar on the dorsum on [his left] index finger.
Stoker Steed was sent to the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent – also known as HMS Pembroke – for his training. Within a couple of months he was given his first posting, on board the battlecruiser HMS Inflexible. She “took part in the Battle of Jutland. He came safely through this; but later was the victim of an accident, and was for some time in hospital.” [Herne Bay Press: Saturday 15th September 1917]
Details of the accident have been lost to time, but William, who had been promoted to Stoker 1st Class on 1st June 1916, returned to HMS Pembroke to recuperate. He was given a short period of leave, during which he returned home, but was back on base by the end of July 1917.
Pembroke was a busy and overcrowded place by this point in the war. The battleship HMS Vanguard had been sunk, and its planned replacement crew were left in the dockyard to await new postings. In addition, an outbreak of meningitis meant that additional accommodation was set up, in an attempt to slow the spread of infection. Stoker 1st Class Steed was among those to be billeted in temporary digs in the dockyard’s Drill Hall.
Britain’s improving defences meant that daytime raids by the German sir force were being thwarted. They changed tack, and, on 3rd September 1917, they attempted a night time raid on the North Kent coast. Chatham bore the brunt of the attack, and two bombs landed direct hits on the Drill Hall. Its glass roof shattered, raining shards down on the sleeping men below. Dozens were killed in the explosions, including Stoker 1st Class Steed: he had not long turned 20 years of age.
The body of William James Steed was taken back to Reculver for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Mary’s Church, the newspaper reporting that “All who knew him speak of him as a good living young fellow, who won the respect of all, and his mother and sisters have lost of good son and brother.” [Herne Bay Press: Saturday 15th September 1917]
[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.]
Sydney Gordon Rigden was born in Whitstable, Kent, on 29th June 1897. One of six children, his parents were William and Annie Rigden. William was a fishmonger, and the family lived above the shop, at No. 43 High Street.
When Sydney finished his schooling, he took work as a general labourer. He was called upon to serve his King and Country, however, and, on 27th June 1916, he was conscripted into the Royal Navy. Stoker 2nd Class Rigden’s service papers note that he was 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, with brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion.
Sydney was sent along the coast to HMS Pembroke, also known as Chatham Dockyard, for his training. He remained there for a couple of months, before being given his first and only posting, on board the light cruiser HMS Dartmouth. A seasoned ship, she had already seen action in Africa and the South Atlantic and, in the year before Stoker Rigden joined her, she formed part of the support for the Gallipoli campaign.
Stoker Rigden spent seven months with Dartmouth, mush of that serving in the Adriatic. On 1st May 1917 he was promoted to Stoker 1st Class, and he returned to Britain towards the end of that month.
In the summer of 1917, Sydney married his childhood sweetheart, Annie Mount. The daughter of a carter, by the time of the 1911 census, she had taken up work as a domestic servant for retired commercial traveller Alexander Paterson and his family. Just 14 years old at this point, she lived with the family, at 186 Lower Clapton Road, London.
After the wedding, Stoker 1st Class Rigden returned to duty, and to HMS Pembroke. The base was a particularly overcrowded place by this point in the war, and temporary additional accommodation was set up. Sydney was one of those to be billeted in the dockyard’s Drill Hall.
On the night of the 3rd September 1917, Chatham came under fire during a daring German air raid. Two of the bombs that were dropped landed squarely on the Drill Hall, shattering its glass roof, and killing dozens of men who were sleeping below. This included Stoker 1st Class Rigden: he was just 20 years of age.
The body of Sydney Gordon Rigden was taken back to Whitstable for burial. He was laid to rest in the town’s cemetery.
Annie was now widow after just a couple of months’ marriage. Sadly, she disappears from the records, so it is unclear what became of her.
[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.]
James Richards was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, on 4th September 1891. The second of nine children, his parents were John and Christina Richards. John was a carter for the local railway and, according to the 1901 census, the family had rooms at 41 Paget Street, to the north of the city centre.
James sought a more permanent career for himself, and enlisted in the Royal Navy. Sadly, his service record has been lost, but the 1911 census return found him listed as one of the 786 crew of the battleship HMS Inflexible. Captained by Charles Napier, at the time of the census, she was moored off Howth Head, near Dublin, Ireland.
By the summer of 1917, Stoker 1st Class Richards found himself at HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent. The base was busy and overcrowded at that point in the war: the battleship HMS Vanguard had been sunk, and its replacement crew were barracked in Chatham, waiting for new assignments. Add to this an outbreak of spotted fever, and temporary accommodation was set up to help space out the billets and slow its transmission. It was in this accommodation – set up in Pembroke’s Drill Hall, that James found himself sleeping.
On the night of the 3rd September 1917, the German air force carried out a daring raid on the North Kent coast. Chatham came under fire, and two bomb scored direct hits on the Drill Hall. Dozens of sleeping men were killed, while countless others, including Stoker 1st Class Richards, were injured.
James was taken to the Royal Naval Hospital in the town, but his wounds would prove too severe. He passed away on 4th September 1917, his 26th birthday.
The body of James Richards was taken back to Lancashire for burial. Strict Roman Catholics, John and Christina laid their son’s body to rest in the city’s Ford 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 