William Jacobs was born in Shoeburyness, Essex, in 1884. The middle of seven children, his parents were John and Mary Jacobs. By the time William was born, John was employed as a domestic gardener, but it seems likely that he had been a military man, his children having been born in garrison towns across Britain and India.
William is missing from the 1901 census, but the family seem to have settled in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, by this point. On 7th October 1905, he married Laura Turner, a labourer’s daughter from the town. They went on to have two children, William Jr and Edgar.
By the time of the 1911 census, William was working as a painter and decorator for a local brewery. The family had set up home at 12 Wyke Road, to the north of Trowbridge town centre. War was on the horizon, however, and things were to change.
When war broke out, William stepped up to play his part. Full details of his time in the army have been lost to time, it is clear that he joined the Wiltshire Regiment as a Private, and was attached to the 1st Battalion.
Private Jacobs found himself in France by July 1915, and was certainly caught up in some of the the skirmishes of that summer and autumn. The following spring, however, he was wounded in the fighting, and was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment.
Admitted to the 5th Southern General Hospital in Portsmouth, Hampshire, Private Jacobs’ injuries would ultimately prove too severe. He passed away on 19th March 1916, at the age of 32 years old.
The body of William Jacobs was taken back to Wiltshire for burial: he was laid to rest in the garrison town’s cemetery, a short walk from where his widow and children were still living.
William Albert Snook was born on 8th December 1885, in the Wiltshire village of Mere, The was the second of nine children to Frank and Louisa Snook. Frank was an agricultural labourer, and when he finished his schooling, this is a trade into which his son followed.
William wanted a life of adventure, however, and, on 25th June 1901, he joined the Royal Navy. Given the rank of Boy 2nd Class, he was sent to the training ship HMS Boscawen to start learning the skills he would need.
Boy Snook spent the next year at Boscawen, during which time he was promoted to Boy 1st Class. Over the next year, he spent time on three ships – the cruiser HMS Minotaur, and the battleships HMS Agincourt and Hannibal.
While assigned to Hannibal, William came of age. Now formally inducted in the Royal Navy, he was given the rank of Ordinary Seaman. His papers show that he was 4ft 11.5ins (1.51m), and had brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion.
William had enlisted for a period of twelve years, and during this time he would go on to serve on a further eleven ships, returning to HMS Victory, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth, Hampshire, in between assignments. His annual review consistently showed a very good character and a superior ability in his role. In March 1905 he was promoted to Able Seaman, and in July 1913, William received a further rise in rank, taking the role of Leading Seaman.
In March 1915, William was moved to HMS Princess Irene, an ocean liner requisitioned on the outbreak of war and converted to a minelayer. On the morning of 27th May 1915, she was moored in the Medway Estuary and was being loaded with mines in preparation for a mission. At 11:14am, a faulty primer on board set off a series of explosions, and she blew apart and sank. More than 250 crew – including Leading Seaman Snook – were killed. He was 29 years of age.
The body of William Albert Snook was brought ashore and laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent. He was buried alongside some of the other crew whose bodies had been rescued and identified.
Leading Seaman Snook’s headstone states that he was assigned to, and killed during the sinking of, HMS Bulwark. This is incorrect, and he was with Princess Irene.
John Poole was born in Swindon, Wiltshire, on 11th May 1893. One of nine children, his parents were James and Mary Poole. James was a quarryman, and, at the time of the 1901 census, the family were living at 5 Cross Street, on the southern edge of the town centre.
John was keen to make his mark on the world and when he completed his schooling, he joined the Royal Navy. His service papers show that he began his naval career on 12th March 1909, a couple of months short of his sixteenth birthday. Given his age, he was assigned the rank of Boy 2nd Class, and sent to HMS Impregnable, the training base in Devonport, to start learning his skills.
Boy Poole initially impressed his seniors, and, on 12th November, he was promoted to Boy 1st Class. The positive start to his career, however, was not to continue, and over the next five years, his service record is peppered with misdemeanours. The first of these came on 6th January 1910, when he did a bunk from base: the authorities caught up with him, however, and he was frogmarched back to Devonport some three weeks later.
On 1st February, John was given his first formal posting, on board the armoured cruiser HMS Donegal. He transferred to another cruiser – HMS Grafton – in April, but by August he has moved again, to the battleship HMS Swiftsure.
Swiftsure would remain John’s home for the next eighteen months, during which time he came of age. Now old enough to formally enlist in the Royal Navy, he was given the rank of Ordinary Seaman. His papers show that he was 5ft 3.5ins (1.61m) tall, and had brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion.
Ordinary Seaman Poole did not get off to a good start and, on 28th June 1911, he was sent to the brig for 28 days for refusing a duty. In April the following year, Swiftsure was docked in Portsmouth, and John saw a chance to go AWOL. Apprehended quickly, he was nevertheless sentenced to 42 days’ detention at HMS Victory, the city’s naval base.
Sent back to his duties on 3rd July 1912, Ordinary Seaman Poole was obviously no longer happy in his role. Going absent without leave again on 2nd December, a harsher sentence was granted when he was captured, and he was sent to the brig for 60 days.
As a new year dawned, John was assigned to another armoured cruiser, HMS Black Prince. The move did nothing to temper Ordinary Seaman Poole’s attitude, however, and he was sent to the brig on 5th September 1913, for refusing a duty. Intriguingly, he was released three weeks later, and just a fortnight after that, he was promoted to Able Seaman.
John remained part of Black Prince’s crew until April 1914. After a short stint at HMS Excellent – the gunnery school in Portsmouth – he was given another assignment, on board the battleship HMS Bulwark. Part of the Channel Fleet, she was tasked with patrolling and defending Britain’s southern coast.
On 26th November 1914, Bulwark was moored in the River Medway, close to Sheerness. While she was being re-stocked with shells and ammunition, a number of poorly-stowed cordite charges overheated, detonating the shells stored nearby. The resulting explosion ripped through the battleship, and more than 740 crew were killed. The body of Able Seaman Poole was amongst those to be recovered. He was 21 years of age.
The body of John Poole was laid to rest alongside the other victims of the disaster, in the naval section of Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, Kent.
The mortal remains of Capt. Herbert Claude Morton, RMLI, were laid to rest in St Nicholas Cemetery, Rochester, on Tuesday afternoon, the first portion of the Burial Service being conducted in the Cathedral, where the deceased office was married, on September 17th, 1908, to Evelyn St Aubyn Lennard, eldest daughter of Col. and Mrs DL Barratt, late of Star-hill, Rochester. Captain Morton, who was 34 years of age, was the only son of Mr John Ellis Morton, of County Cavan, and Mrs Werry, of Cowes, Isle of Wight. He served during the campaign in China and was awarded the medal. His home was at Gosport.
[Chatham, Rochester and Brompton Observer: Saturday 5th December 1914]
The early life of Herbert Claude Morton is a challenge to piece together. The 1911 census states that he was born in France, and confirms that he and Evelyn were living with their then two children at 139 Stoke Road, Gosport, Hampshire.
This was the only census on which Herbert features and, as the “campaign in China” that the newspaper reported would have been the Boxer Rebellion of 1900, this may account for the lack of other documentation for him.
When war broke out, Captain Morton assigned to the battleship HMS Bulwark. He was on board Bulwark on the 26th November 1914, when she was moored close to Sheerness, Kent. That morning, an explosion ripped through the ship, sinking it and killing more than 740 people. Herbert was amongst them: he was 34 years of age.
The body of Herbert Claude Morton was laid to rest in a marked grave in St Nicholas’ Cemetery, Rochester, Kent.
The summer after her husband’s death, Evelyn gave birth to another child, daughter Stella, who would never know her father.
A verdict of “Suicide during temporary insanity” was returned at a Westminster inquest on Thomas Patrick Edgerton Dignam, aged 28, a second-class air mechanic in the Royal Flying Corps.
The evidence was to the effect that Dignam’s final leave expired on the night of November 22. He and his wife got into a taxicab near the Law Courts, telling the driver to take them to their home in Pimlico. Dignam, however, altered his mind, and in the Strand bade his wife good-bye, saying he would drive straight to Waterloo. When his wife had gone, he again told the driver to take him to Pimlico. On the way he shot himself through the head with a service revolver. The only explanation of the tragedy was that Dignam might have been depressed as the result of influenza.
[Illustrated Police News: Thursday 30th November 1916]
Much of the life of Thomas Patrick Edgerton Dignam is a challenge to piece together. His service records suggest that he was born in the Ancoats area of Manchester, Lancashire, but give no indication as to his parents.
Thomas enlisted on 2nd July 1916, joining the Royal Flying Corps as an Air Mechanic 2nd Class. His service papers show that, at 32 years of age, he stood 5ft 10.5ins (1.79m) tall. Living at 83 Alderney Street, South Belgravia, Middlesex, he had given up his job as an NT Driver, privately employed to transport goods or people around the area. His papers show that he was married, having exchanged vows with Elinore Essex on 9th December 1915.
Air Mechanic Dignam was sent to Farnborough, Hampshire, for his training. However, from the start things went awry. On 26th August 1916 he went absent without leave, and was only apprehended back in Pimlico some three weeks later. Tried for desertion, Thomas was sentenced to 14 days’ detention, returning to duty on 26th October.
Given leave towards the end of November, the pressure of returning to base seemed to have proved too much, and Thomas took his life having bid Elinore farewell that last time.
The body of Thomas Patrick Edgerton Dignam was laid to rest in Streatham Park Cemetery, Surrey. His papers note one final tragedy in his tale. Elinore was pregnant when her husband died, giving birth to their daughter, also called Elinore, on 15th January 1917.
While Thomas does not appear in any census records, the 1911 document gives an insight into Elinore’s life. Born in Worthing, Sussex, in around 1884, she had moved to London and, at just 27 years of age, was the manageress of the Devonshire Inn Hotel at 136 Bishopsgate. On the night the census was taken, there were 25 guests and 16 other members of staff.
It is likely that Elinore gave up her position when she and Thomas married. By 1921, she was living with her daughter at 46 Wightman Road, Hornsey, Middlesex. Working as a clerk, she was employed by Frederic Smith & Sons at the West Central Hotel in Southampton Row, Camden. Frederic was the Secretary to the Band of Hope Temperance Society, and the hotel he ran with his sons was run with abstinence in mind.
The life of John James Green is a challenge to piece together. Born in Chatham, Kent, in the spring of 1880, he was the older of two children to David and Frances Green. David was a Sapper in the Royal Engineers, but when he died in 1883, his widow was left with two young children to raise.
Frances moved the family back to Eton, Berkshire, where she had been born. She married again, to groom Robert Edwards, and the couple went on to have a child of their own, John’s half-brother, Robert.
When John completed his schooling, he followed in his father’s footsteps. He joined the Royal Engineers, and went on to be a Driver for the regiment.
The 1901 census recorded him as being a patient in the Connaught Hospital, attached the North Camp in Aldershot, Hampshire. While not confirming John’s condition, it does note that he was married, although there does not appear to be any other record confirming this.
On 29th October 1903, however, John did get married. His new bride was Alice Morton, and the couple exchanged vows in St Mary Magdalene Church in Southwark, London.
Sadly, Alice seems to have died young, and in December 1905, John wed for a second time, to grocer’s daughter Ellen Mansey. Now based back in Aldershot, the two married in Holy Trinity Church, and went on to have five children: John, Ernest, May, Charles and Alice.
The 1911 census found the Green family in rooms at 25 Lyson’s Road. A small terraced cottage, they shared it with the Scotts – married couple John and Edith, and their baby, William.
At this point, John’s trail goes cold. War broke out, and it is certain that he served in some capacity, but how and where is unclear. Driver Green survived the conflict, but passed away in Aldershot on 22nd May 1919: he was 39 years of age.
The body of John James Green was taken back to Berkshire for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St John’s Church in Eton, where his mother was still living.
It appears that Ellen may also have passed away by this point, as John’s pension was split equally between their five children. Tragically, his pension card notes Ernest and Charles’ guardian as the Sister in charge of St Augustine’s Home for Boys in Clewes, Berkshire. May and Alice were being looked after by Miss J Angerous of Pembroke Gardens, Windsor; while oldest son John Jr was in the care of Mrs B Evans Baldwin’s End, Eton College.
William Henry Dimmick was born in Titchfield, Hampshire, on 10th November 1871. The oldest of four children, his parents were John and Harriett Dimmick. John was a butcher, but when he completed his schooling, he became chose a different path.
The 1891 census recorded William as lodging with the Merritt family in Clanfield, to the north of Waterlooville, Hampshire. He was employed as a blacksmith, but either this was a means to an end, or he had itchy feet.
On 30th June 1893, William enlisted in the Royal Navy. Part of the Armourer’s Crew, his service records show that he was 5ft 7ins (1.7m) tall, with light hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. He was sent to HMS Excellent, the shore base on Whale Island in the Solent, and she would become the home to which he would return over the next few years.
Armourer’s Crew Dimmick’s contract was for twelve years and, during that time, he would serve on five separate ships. A lot of his time, however, was spent ashore, and his service papers note spells at both HMS Wildfire and HMS Pembroke, both on the North Kent Coast.
William’s time was not mis-spent, however, and he started to rise through the ranks. On 20th April 1897 he was promoted to Armourer’s Mate; in November 1898 he was made an Armourer. On 1st November 1902 he rose to Acting Chief Armourer, a role that was made permanent twelve months later.
Away from work, William found love. He married Florence Dunford in around 1902, and the couple would go on to have three children – William Jr, John and Florence Jr – between 1902 and 1911.
When William’s contract came to an end, he immediately re-enlisted. Over the next few years, he was given five more postings, before being assigned to HMS Natal in September 1912. An armoured cruiser, she was attached to the Grand Fleet during the First World War, but did not take part in any battles.
On 30th December 1915, Natal was moored in the Cromarty Firth, when an internal explosion from faulty cordite ripped her apart. She sank, and at least 390 crew and civilians were killed.
The next record for William is that of his passing – from pneumonia, at home, on 28th January 1916. He was 45 years of age. It is unclear whether he had been on board Natal a month before, and whether there was any connection between his illness and the explosion.
The family were living in Sheerness, Kent, at the time of William’s death, His body, however, was laid to rest in the naval section of Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, not far from HMS Pembroke, the dockyard in Chatham, Kent, which he had called home for some time.
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.]
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 little information about 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 widower, 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 Cemetery.
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.]
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.]
