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Chief Yeoman of Signals Charles Welling

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Chief Yeoman of Signals Charles Welling

Charles James Welling was born on 23rd October 1860, and was the oldest of three children to Charles and Ann Welling. The Wellings were a military family, Charles Sr employed as a Serjeant Instructor of Musquetry in the Parkhurst Barracks on the Isle of Wight when his son was born.

Ann had been born in South Africa while her Irish parents were based out there. She and Charles Sr married in Farnham, Surrey, presumably where the families were based by that point.

Charles Jr’s mother died in 1863, just a month after giving birth to his youngest sibling. His father married again, to Sarah Ash, and by 1871, the Wellings were living in barracks at the School of Musketry in Hythe, Kent.

Being his father’s son, Charles Jr was set to make his own mark on the world and, on 21st January 1876, he joined the Royal Navy. Too young to formally enlist, he was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class, and sent off to HMS Impregnable, the shore base in Devonport, Devon, for his training.

Over the next eighteen months, Boy Welling learnt his trade, spending time at HMS Ganges – another shore base near Ipswich, Suffolk – and the sloop HMS Penguin. It was here that Charles came of age in 1878, and he officially joined the Royal Navy with the rank of Ordinary Seaman. His service papers show that he was just 4ft 10.5ins (1.49m) tall, with light brown hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion.

Ordinary Seaman Welling career was to take a turn in 1880, when he began training as a signaller. His initial contract with the navy was for ten years, and, by the time that came to an end in May 1889, he had served on eight ships in all, rising through the ranks from Signalman 3rd Class, to Signalman 2nd Class in August 1881 and Qualified Signalman seven years later.

When Charles’ term of service came to an end, he immediately renewed it, and with the new contract came a promotion to Leading Signalman. The next decade saw him travel the world, returning to HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, in between voyages. His commitment to the role paid off: in March 1894 he was promoted to 2nd Class Yeoman of Signals. Just eight months later he took the rank of Yeoman of Signals.

It was around this time that Charles married the love of his life, Harriet Carlaw. Born in London, the couple exchanged vows in St Pancras, Middlesex, on 13th January 1894 and had a son, also called Charles, the following year.

Charles’ naval career continued its upward trajectory, and on 1st March 1898, he was awarded the rank of Chief Yeoman of Signals. By this point HMS Pembroke had become his permanent base and, at the end of his contract in 1899, he was stood down to reserve status.

The 1901 census shows what may have been a downward step for the Wellings: it recorded the family living in rooms at 136 Bayham Street, Camden, Middlesex, where Charles was working as a messenger.

Opportunities come in the most unexpected of places, however, and the following census found them living at Pier House, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, where Charles was employed as a lighthouse keeper.

By this point, Charles had been invalided out of the navy for medical reasons. The writing on his service papers is unclear, and his dismissal seems to have been as a result of disease of gestes, possibly the neurological disorder dystonia.

When war broke out in 1914, however, anyone with experience was called upon to play their part. Given his age at the time, it seems likely that Charles volunteered for service, reporting to HMS Pembroke on 2nd August 1914. He was given his old rank of Chief Yeoman of Signals, and remained at the naval base for the next two years.

Charles’ health was definitely suffering by this point, and he was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in Chatham, in September 1916. Suffering from the heart condition endocarditis, this would take his life. He passed away on 16th September, at the age of 55 years old.

With Harriet still living in Sunderland, Charles’ body was laid to rest in Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, Kent, not far from the base he had called home for so long.

Charles and Harriet’s son had also stepped up to play his part when war broke out. Enlisting in the Royal Engineers, Pioneer Welling soon found himself in the Middle East. While serving in Palestine, he contracted malaria, and passed away from the condition on 16th October 1918. Charles was just 23 years of age, and was laid to rest in Haifa War Cemetery.

It is tragic to note that Harriet had lost her husband and her son within two years.

Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, Hampshire, history, Kent, killed in action, Leading Signalman, photography, Royal Navy, Signalman, story, war

Leading Signalman Alexander Daisley

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Leading Seaman Alexander Daisley

Alexander William Arthur Daisley was born on 13th November 1886, and was the second of four children to William and Judith Daisley. William was a Private in the Royal Marines and, as the time his son was born, the family were based in Dartmouth, Devon. By the time of the 1891 census, however, they had moved to Kent, and were billeted in family accommodation in the Milton Barracks, near Gravesend.

Ten years on, and the 1901 census confirms that the Daisleys had relocated again. William had left his military service behind him, and had taken up work as a publican at the Seven Stars Inn in Litlington, Cambridgeshire. Alexander is noticeable in his absence from the record, however. The following year, he surfaces again, however, and seems that he was destined to follow his father’s naval career.

On 10th April 1902, Alexander enlisted in the Royal Navy. At just 15 years of age, he was assigned the rank of Boy 2nd Class, and was sent to HMS St Vincent, a training ship based in Haslar, Hampshire, for his induction. He remained there for the next fifteen months, gaining promotion to Boy 1st Class in February 1903.

Alexander spent the second half of that year at HMS Victory, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth, Hampshire, before being given his first posting in November. His assignment was on board the armoured cruiser HMS Good Hope: she was to become his home for the next year and a half, during which he came of age, and was formally inducted into the Royal Navy.

At this point, Alexander’s service records give an insight into the man he was becoming. He was noted as being just 5ft 1in (1.55m) tall, with hazel eyes and light brown hair. He had a fair complexion and three scars on the back of his head. It seems that he had some aptitude, as he was given the rank of Signalman, rather than being directed to the role of seaman.

Over the next twelve years – the term of his contract – Signalman Daisley would serve on eight ships: in between assignments he would return to his Portsmouth base. His time in the Royal Navy was not without incident, and he spent three separate periods in the cells – 14 days in 1907, 17 days in 1908 and 10 days in 1909. Despite this, he was promoted to the rank of Leading Seaman in January 1913, while serving on board HMS Egmont, an armoured frigate.

On 9th March 1915, Leading Signalman Daisley was assigned to HMS Princess Irene, an ocean liner that had been converted to a minelayer at the start of the war.

On 27th May 1915, while Irene was moored off Sheerness, Kent, a series of explosions ripped through the ship, killing more than 350 crew. Leading Signalman Daisley was among those who perished: he was 29 years of age.

The body of Alexander William Arthur Daisley was buried in Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, Kent, alongside the other victims of the disaster.

Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, Leading Signalman, Ordinary Seaman, photography, Royal Navy, Scotland, Signalman, Somerset, story, war, Yeoman of Signals

Yeoman of Signals Alfred Collins

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Yeoman of Signals Alfred Collins

Alfred Henry Collins was born on 22nd August 1886, in the Gloucestershire village of Wotton-under-Edge. One of five children, his parents were cowman and farm labourer Samuel George Collins and his wife, Jane. Samuel’s work took the family south, and by the time of the 1901 census, the Collinses had settled in Whitchurch, near Bristol.

When Alfred finished his schooling, he also found employment labouring on a farm, but he was drawn to a more reliable career and a life at sea. On 9th March 1903, Alfred enlisted in the Royal Navy. His service records show the young man he was becoming. He was 5ft 4ins tall, with brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion.

Alfred was still underage in the navy’s eyes, and so he was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class. He was assigned to HMS Northampton, a training ship, and must have shown some promise, as within three months he had been promoted.

In June 1903, Boy 1st Class Collins was assigned to HMS Victory, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth, Hampshire, and his trajectory was still upwards. When he turned seventeen on 22nd August, Alfred was formally enrolled in the Royal Navy, and was given the rank of Ordinary Seaman. However, his training in Portsmouth continued, and by November he had become a Signalman.

In December 1903 he was posted to the cruiser HMS Isis and, over the next decade he served on ten different ships, returning to HMS Vivid, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Devonport, in between voyages. During this time he was promoted to Leading Signalman, and his annual reviews showed him as having a very good character and a superior ability.

With war now brewing across Europe, the role of the navy intensified. When conflict was declared, Leading Signalman Collins was serving on board the cruiser HMS Pomone and, after nine months back at HMS Vivid, possibly in a training role, Alfred was assigned to the newly-refitted battleship HMS Bellerophon, on board which he would serve for more than two years.

Bellerophon served at the Battle of Jutland, and remained patrolling the southern part of the North Sea for the rest of the war. In July 1917, Alfred was promoted again, to Yeoman of the Signals, and transferred to HMS King George. He remained in the North Sea, but his new ship was there to protect the convoys transporting good between the UK and Norway, so he was based in Scotland.

Yeoman of the Signals Collins survived the war, but in February 1919 he was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in Granton, near Edinburgh, suffering from pneumonia. Sadly, the condition was to get the better of him and he died on 14th February 1919, at the age of 32 years old. He had served for just short of sixteen years.

The body of Alfred Henry Collins was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Nicholas’ Church in Whitchurch.

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Leading Signalman Albert Pomeroy

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Leading Signalman Albert Pomeroy

Albert Pomeroy was born on 22nd May 1882 in Totnes, Devon. The tenth of thirteen children, his parents were William and Susanna Pomeroy. William was a labourer at a cider store, and his son found work as a page when he left school. However, it is clear that he lusted after a life of adventure.

On 2nd September 1897, Albert enlisted in the Royal Navy. Aged just 15 years old, he was initially given the rank of Boy 2nd Class, and sent to HMS Impregnable, a training ship based in Devonport. He remained on board for just over a year, rising to Boy 1st Class in the process.

Boy Pomeroy moved to HMS Vivid, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Plymouth, in December 1898, and remained there until he was given his first formal sea-faring post nine months later. The cruiser HMS Terrible was to be his home from September 1899 until the spring of 1902.

On 22nd May 1900, during his time on board Terrible, Albert came of age, and he was formally enrolled into the Royal Navy. His service records confirm that he was 5ft 3in (1.60m) tall, had dark brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion.

Albert was given the rank of Ordinary Seaman, but seems to have been well thought of as, just over a year later he was promoted to Able Seaman. Over the next eleven years, he served on a further ten ships, returning to HMS Vivid between voyages. On 21st May 1912, having completed the twelve years of his naval contract, Able Seaman Pomeroy was formally stood down to reserve status.

Albert’s trail goes cold for a few years. His father had passed away in 1910, so it seems likely that Albert returned home to Totnes to support his mother.

His time on reserve was not to be long, however, and, in August 1914, he was called back into duty. He received a promotion – to Leading Signalman – and assigned to the troop ship HMS Tamar. He moved to another troop ship – HMS Hardinge – in March 1915, but returned to Devonport a couple of months later.

In September, Leading Seaman Pomeroy was back in Totnes, possibly on leave, but had fallen ill. He contracted meningitis, and this was to prove fatal. Albert passed away at his mother’s home on 2nd September 1915, at the age of 33 years old.

Albert… was one of six brothers serving King and country, while another brother, who died some years ago, was in the 20th Hussars, and his late father was a naval pensioner. Albert Pomeroy saw service with Sit Percy Scott in South Africa, went to Pekin [sic] with the Naval Brigade, was engaged in operations in Somaliland, and until a few weeks ago was on active service with the British fleet.

Western Times: Tuesday 7th September 1915

Albert Pomeroy was laid to rest in the cemetery of his home town, Totnes, Devon.

Susanna went on to live into her eighties. Remaining in Totnes, when she passed away, on 27th December 1933, at the age of 88, she was reunited with her son in Totnes Cemetery.

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Chief Petty Officer Telegraphist William Field

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Chief Petty Officer Telegraphist William Field

William John Field was born on 8th October 1885 in Boston, Lincolnshire. The eldest of four children, his parents were Charles and Ellen. Charles was a boatman for the coastguard; his job, by the time of the 1891 census, had taken the family to the village of Dawdon on the County Durham coastline.

Given his father’s job, it is not unsurprising that William was destined for a life at sea. As soon as he left school in the spring of 1901, he joined the Royal Navy and was sent to HMS Ganges, the shore-based training establishment in Suffolk. Being underage, he was initially assigned the role of Boy, moving, after a year, to HMS Pembroke, also known as the Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent.

By November 1902 Boy Field was moved to HMS Venerable, a ship that was to be his home for the next three years. During this time, William came of age, and was formally enrolled in the Royal Navy as a Signalman. He evidently worked hard on the Venerable, rising through the ranks to Qualified Signalman and Leading Signalman.

In June 1905, William was moved to HMS Leviathan, where he was again promoted, to Second Yeoman of Signals, before again being assigned to Chatham Naval Dockyard six months later.

While based in Kent, William met Nelly Watt, the daughter of a labourer at the dockyard. The couple married in 1906, and went on to have four children.

Over the next few years, the now Petty Officer Telegraphist Field spent an almost equal amount of time at sea and on shore. War was coming and when his initial term of service came to an end in October 1915, he immediately renewed his contract through to the end of the hostilities.

All of William’s time was now spent on land, primarily at HMS Pembroke, but also at HMS Actaeon in Portsmouth, HMS Victory VI at Crystal Palace, London and HMS Bacchante in Aberdeen.

While Chief Petty Officer Telegraphist Field’s naval service records are quite detailed, his passing is anything but. The war over, he moved back to Chatham Dockyard in January 1919. At some point he was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in the town, and died from ‘disease’ on 13th March that year. He was just 33 years of age.

William John Field was laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in nearby Gillingham.

A sad aside to the story is that, at the time of he husband’s death, Nellie was pregnant with the couple’s fourth child. John William Field was born on 16th October 1919, destined never to know his father.