William Dowsey Magog was born on 23rd March 1898 in Sunderland, County Durham. He was the only child to William and Mary Magog. William Sr was a railway fireman who died when Mary was three months pregnant. He would never know his son, but William was named in his father’s honour.
With a baby to raise, Mary needed support and married for a second time in 1900. Her new husband was Thomas Gardner, who was employed as a chain testing labourer. The extended family set up home on Thomas Street, initially at No. 7, then moving to No. 19 by the time of the 1911 census. By this point, William had three half-siblings, Mary Jr, Elizabeth and Robert.
William followed his stepfather into factory work, taking a job as a moulder. However, he had his sights set on bigger and better things, and on 31st August 1913, he joined the Royal Navy. Too young for formally enlist at this stage, he was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class, and sent to HMS Ganges, the training base near Ipswich, Suffolk.
Boy Magog seemed to impress his seniors, and within nine months had been promoted to Boy 1st Class. He was given his first assignment, on board the cruiser HMS Grafton, in June 1914. That summer, as war broke out, he was sent to HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent.
At the end of October 1914, William was transferred to the battleship HMS Dominion, and she would remain his home for the next three years. During this time, he came of age, and formally joined the Royal Navy. His service papers show that the he stood just 5ft 1/2in (1.54m) tall, and had brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion.
The now Ordinary Seaman Magog was dedicated to his role, although his annual reviews noted a very good (or average) character and a satisfactory (again average) ability. He rose through the ranks, however, becoming an Able Seaman in April 1917.
During this time, Dominion patrolled the North Sea as part of the Third Battle Squadron. She was not involved in many of the major skirmishes of the First World War, although she did take part in the protection of Scarborough during the German raids of 1914, and the Battle of Dogger Bank just a few months later.
By the summer of 1917, Able Seaman Magog had returned to Chatham to await his next assignment. The dockyard was a particularly busy and overcrowded place by this point in the conflict: the sinking of HMS Vanguard had left its replacement crew with nowhere to go, and an outbreak of meningitis had meant that additional accommodation was needed to provide space in the cramped barracks. It was because of this that William found himself billeted in temporary barracks in the dockyard’s Drill Hall.
On the night of the 3rd September 1917, the German air force carried out an audacious night raid on the north Kent coast. The Drill Hall was hit by two bombs, shattering its glass roof, and killing dozens of men who were sleeping below. Able Seaman Magog was badly wounded, and was taken to the Royal Naval Hospital in Chatham. Tragically, his injuries would prove too severe, and he passed away two days after the bombing. He was just 19 years of age.
The body of William Dowsey Magog was taken back to County Durham for burial. He was laid to rest in Sunderland’s Ryhope Road Cemetery, just a few minutes’ walk from where Mary and the family were living.
Able Seaman William Magog (from findagrave.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.]
Among the Naval ratings killed in the recent air raid by the Germans on Chatham we regret to record that a Skegness lad was among the victims. This was Percy Hare, the only son of Mr and Mrs Henry Hare, of Algitha Road. The deceased lad joined the Navy some months ago, and was stationed at Chatham undergoing training. Prior to entering the Service he assisted his father in the baking business. The family are well-known in Skegness and neighbourhood, and Mr Hare has for several years been prominently identified with the Wesleyan cause locally, while his dead son was secretary of and a teacher in the Skegness Wesleyan Sunday School, and was also qualifying as a local preacher in the circuit.
[Lincolnshire Standard and Boston Guardian: Saturday 15th September 1917]
Stephen Percy Hare was born on 31st March 1897 in Skegness, Lincolnshire. He was the only child to Henry and Annie Hare. Henry was a baker, and the family lived on the main shopping thoroughfare, leading to the seafront.
The 1901 census recorded the family residing at 29 Lumley Road, where the ground floor presumably served as the bakery, with the upstairs as their living accommodation.
The following census records take some unpicking. Annie Hare was recorded as being a boarding house keeper, and was living with Stephen at 25-27 Lumley Road. They had two residents – bakers Robert England and George Gay. Henry is absent from the record, but at No. 23 were John and Eliza Hare, aged 73 and 67 respectively and possibly Henry’s parents, were running another boarding house with their three adult daughters.
When war broke out, Stephen was just 17 years of age. He was too young to formally enlist, but he had his chance when, on 1st December 1916, he joined the Royal Navy. Send to HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, his baking background stood him in good stead, and he was given the rank of Cook’s Mate 2nd Class. His service papers show that he was just under 5ft 8ins (1.7m) tall, with fair hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion.
Cook’s Mate Hare spent the next nine months learning his trade. By the summer of 1917, Pembroke was a busy and cramped place. The battleship HMS Vanguard had been sunk, leaving its replacement crew, waiting in Chatham, with nowhere to go. There had been an outbreak of spotted fever, and the decision was taken to turn the dockyard’s Drill Hall into temporary accommodation. Stephen was one of those to be billeted there.
On the evening of the 3rd September 1917, five German Gotha bombers undertook the first night time raid on Britain. Chatham was in their line of fire, and two bombs landed direct hits on the Drill Hall. Cook’s Mate Hare was among the dozens of sleeping men who lost their lives when the glass roof shattered and crashed down on them. He was just 20 years of age.
The body of Stephen Percy Hare was taken back to Lincolnshire for burial. He was laid to rest in the town’s St Clement’s Churchyard.
[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 took place at All Saints’ Cemetery, Jesmond Road, Newcastle, on Saturday, of Senior Sick Berth Reserve Attendant George Gilbert, of Portland Road, Newcastle, who was killed in the air raid on the South-East Coast on Monday last. The deceased, who was 53 years of age, was, prior to the outbreak of war, employed as a machine-man at Elswick Works, and was an active member of the St John Ambulance Brigade. When hostilities began he volunteered for service as a sick berth attendant in the Naval Division.
[Newcastle Journal: Monday 10th September 1917]
George Gilbert was born in 19th March 1866 in Birmingham, Warwickshire. One of five children, he was the oldest son to George and Mary Gilbert. George Sr was an engine fitter and, according to the 1881 census, the family lived at 42 Devonshire Street, to the north west of the city centre.
The next census, taken in 1891, found a change of circumstances for George Jr. Having moved to Leicester, he had found work as a boot finisher. He had also found love, and, in 1889, had married a woman called Ellen. Little information about her early life is available, but she had been born in Northampton: given that shoe-making was a key industry in the town, it is possible that the couple had met at work, although this is purely conjecture.
George was keen to support his family as best he could, and they moved to the Benwell area of Newcastle-on-Tyne. George found factory work, and the couple set up home at 64 Tyne Street. By the time of the 1901 census, Ellen had had two children, daughters Mabel and Lilian.
George’s career continued, and, as the newspaper report suggests, he took employment as an engine-man for the Elswick Ordnance Company. A munitions manufacturer, the factory was just a few minutes’ walk from where the Gilbert family had moved to, 30 Wellfield Road, Benwell. The 1911 census confirmed a third child, daughter Beatrice, who had been born in 1902. Ellen was now working, her occupation listed as a grocery dealer in her own account.
War broke out in the summer of 1914 and, despite his age, George was quick to step up and serve his country. Joining the Royal Naval Division on 2nd August, he took the role of Senior Reserve Attendant, and was assigned to the naval hospital in Chatham, Kent. His service records note that he was 5ft 9ins (1.75m) tall, with light hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion.
Senior Reserve Attendant Gilbert stayed at the hospital for the next three years and was barracked at HMS Pembroke – the Royal Naval Dockyard. By the summer of 1917, the base was overcrowded: the sinking of HMS Vanguard led to its replacement crew being stuck there waiting for new assignments, and an outbreak of meningitis meant additional accommodation was needed to slow the spread of infection. George found himself billeted in temporary quarters in the dockyard’s Drill Hall.
By this point in the war, the German Air Force was looking to minimise daytime casualties, and was, instead, trialling night raids; on 3rd September, Chatham found itself in their flight path. The Drill Hall received a direct hit, and Senior Reserve Attendant Gilbert was badly injured. He was taken to the hospital he had worked in, but his wounds proved too severe. He passed away the day after the attack: he was 51 years of age.
The body of George Gilbert was taken back to Newcastle for burial. He was laid to rest in the city’s All Saints’ Cemetery, not far from where his grieving family 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.]
Alfred Gibbs was born on 14th November 1893 in Tower Hamlets, Middlesex. He was one of four children to Alfred and Sarah Gibbs.
There is tantalisingly little information available about Alfred Jr’s early life. Sarah appears to have died not long after her youngest child’s birth in 1897, and the 1901 census found the family living in Tenbury Place, Limehouse. Alfred Sr was recorded as being a rope maker, and they had a boarder, Mary Cambridge, to bring in a little extra money.
Alfred Sr seems to have passed away by the end of the decade, and his son found work as a general labourer. A more reliable career was needed, however, and on 11th March 1912, Alfred Jr enlisted in the Royal Navy.
Stoker 2nd Class Gibbs was sent to HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, for his training. His papers show that he was 5ft 2.5ins (1.59m) tall, with brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion.
The start of Alfred’s naval career was not an auspicious one. He enlisted for a period of five years, but just a couple of months after joining up, he ran off, and was not caught and brought to justice until the end of September.
Once back in the fold, Stoker Gibbs seemed to have settled into something of a routine. While it appears he would not be one to rise through the ranks – his annual reviews noted a good or very good character and an ability that varied between moderate and satisfactory – for the next couple of years he focused on the job.
Alfred’s first assignment was on board the gunboat HMS Speedy, and during his short time on board, he was promoted to Stoker 1st Class. In March 1913 he returned to Chatham, HMS Pembroke becoming his home in between attachments.
Over the next four years, Stoker Gibbs would serve on three further vessels, but his time in the navy would not be without incident. In December 1914, he was thrown in the brig for seven days for an unrecorded misdemeanour. He found himself back in the cells for a similar time in March 1916.
By the summer of 1917, Alfred was back at HMS Pembroke. The dockyard was a particularly busy place at that point in the war and temporary accommodation had been set up. Stoker Gibbs 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, and dozens of men were killed. Alfred was badly wounded, and taken to the local Naval Hospital. His injuries would prove insurmountable, however, and he died the next day. He was just 23 years old.
The body of Alfred Gibbs was taken back to Middlesex for burial. He was laid to rest in the City of London and Tower Hamlets 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 John Lang was born on 22nd August 1882, and was one of six children to Thomas and Elizabeth Lang. Thomas was a general labourer from the Devon village of Georgeham, and this is where the family were born and raised.
William initially followed his father into labouring work, but after Thomas died in 1891, he decided he wanted bigger and better things. On 28th February 1899 he joined the Royal Navy. Under the age to formally enlist, he was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class, and sent to HMS Impregnable, the school ship based in Devonport, for his training.
It seemed that William impressed his teachers. By the end of November he had been promoted to Boy 1st Class, and in the spring of 1900, he was given his first assignment, on board the frigate HMS Agincourt. In August he was transferred to the battleship HMS Camperdown, and he was within days of arriving that he came of age.
William was now formally inducted into the Royal Navy, and given the rank of Ordinary Seaman. His service papers show that he was a little over 5ft 5ins (1.65m) tall, with light brown hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion.
Ordinary Seaman Lang signed up for a period of 12 years, and during that time, he would serve on eight vessels, returning to what would become his shore base – HMS Vivid in Devonport – between assignments. In January 1903 he was promoted to Able Seaman but, while his annual reviews consistently noted a very good character, as time went on, his ability varied from good to moderate.
Able Seaman Lang’s contract came to an end in August 1912, and he immediately re-enlisted. In November 1913 he was assigned to the battleship HMS Colossus, and she would remain his home for the next three years. The posting seemed to suit William well, and his annual reviews reflected this, with superiorability being noted at the end of 1914.
By the start of 1916, William’s health was beginning to be affected and, he returned to HMS Vivid. He had contracted tuberculosis, and this led to his ultimate discharge from naval service on 22nd March.
At this point his trail goes cold, but it is likely that he returned home. Elizabeth had remarried by this point, and she and her husband, Thomas Physick, were living on a farm in Georgeham. William’s lung condition would get the better of him, and he passed away on 2nd September 1916. He had not long turned 34 years of age.
The body of William John Lang was laid to rest in the family plot in St George’s Churchyard, Georgeham: father and son reunited after 15 years.
Frederick Isaac Diver was born in Hopton, Suffolk, on 4th July 1888, the third of nine children to Matthew and Louisa Diver. Matthew was a tinsmith from Thetford, Norfolk, and was twenty years older than his wife. He had been married before, but was widowed in 1880, leaving him with six children to raise (tragically he and his first wife, Emily, had lost two children in the year before she died).
Matthew married Louisa in the autumn of 1881 and the couple raised their family at 17 Old Market Street, close to Thetford town centre. Matthew himself died late in 1909, and the census return that was taken two years later found his widow and four of her children still living in the family home. Frederick was the only one bringing in a wage, and was employed as a general labourer.
In the autumn of 1911, Frederick married Ethel Talbot. The daughter of a postman from Brandon, Suffolk, she was a couple of years younger than her new husband. The couple set up home on Castle Street, Thetford, and had three children – Sybil, Arthur and Frederick Jr.
Frederick worked at the docks on the town’s river and, when war came to Europe, he would be called upon to play his part. He was conscripted into the Royal Navy and, as a Stoker 2nd Class, was sent to HMS Pembroke, the dockyard in Chatham, Kent, for his training. His service records show that he was just under 5ft 9ins (1.75m) tall, with brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion.
After a couple of months, Stoker Diver was given his first posting, on board the battleship HMS Vanguard. She would remain his home for just under a year, during which time he was promoted to Stoker 1st Class. At the start of July 1917, he was home on leave, Frederick Jr having been born a few months before.
HMS Vanguard was stationed in Scapa Flow, in the Orkneys, when, on 9th July 1917, a series of magazine explosions tore the ship apart. She sank almost at once, and 843 of the 845 crew were killed. Stoker Diver had had a lucky escape.
At the end of his leave, Frederick returned to HMS Pembroke, to await a new assignment. The loss of Vanguard resulted in the dockyard being a busy place – its replacement crew were based there, and were now stuck there as they waited to be re-assigned. Stoker 1st Class Diver was billeted in temporary accommodation in Chatham Drill Hall.
On the 3rd September 1917, the first night air raid carried out by the German Air Force bombarded the town, and scored a direct hit on the Drill Hall; Stoker Diver was not so lucky this time, and was among those killed. He was just 29 years of age.
The body of Frederick Isaac Diver was taken back to Norfolk for burial. He was laid to rest in Thetford Cemetery, not far from where his widow 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.]
Henry – or Harry – Hosier was born on 22nd September 1880 at 2 Wenban Terrace, Worthing, West Sussex. The fourth of ten children, his parents were Charles and Elizabeth. Charles was a jack of all trades, working as a carman for the railway in 1881, and a gardener by 1891. That census recorded that the family had moved to 1 Ham Road, in East Worthing, and that Charles was the only person bringing money into the household.
When Harry completed his schooling, he found work as a coachman. On 3rd November 1900 he married Elizabeth Jenkins at Christ Church in Worthing town centre. Elizabeth was living in nearby Broadwater when the couple exchanged vows. Her father is unknown and the surname she went by was her mother Charlotte’s first husband’s name, although he died eighteen months before she was born. Charlotte married a second time, to a Stephen Lillywhite, and, for a while her daughter was listed with his surname. By the time she married Harry, however, Elizabeth had reverted to Jenkins.
Harry and Elizabeth initially moved in with Charlotte and Stephen. By the time of the 1911 census, however, they had set up their own home on Broadwater Street, to the north of Worthing town centre. The couple would go on to have seven children, although two would pass away in infancy.
Harry was working as a cab driver by this point but, when war broke out, he would be called upon to play his part. He enlisted on 26th June 1916, joining the Royal Navy as an Ordinary Seaman. His service papers show that he was 5ft 3.5ins (1.61m) tall, with dark brown hair, brown eyes and a dark complexion. His is also noted as having a number of tattoos on his arms.
Ordinary Seaman Hosier was initially sent to HMS Victory, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth, Hampshire, for his training. In August 1916, however, he was assigned to the destroyer HMS Broke. Fresh from the Battle of Jutland, she was part of the 4th Destroyer Flotilla, charged with protecting the English Channel.
On the 20th and 21st April 1917, Broke took part in the Battle of Dover Strait against six German torpedo boats. In the confusion of the skirmish, Broke rammed the enemy ship SMS G42, and the two vessels became locked together. For a while the crews fought in hand-to-hand combat, before the British ship managed to break free. Soon afterwards the German boat sank. Badly damaged, HMS Broke had to be towed back to Dover: 21 of the crew – including Ordinary Seaman Hosier – were killed, and a further 36 were wounded. Harry was 36 years of age.
The body of Harry Hosier was taken back to Sussex for burial, his funeral at Broadwater Cemetery, making the local newspapers:
A fallen hero of the naval fight off Dover last week was buried in Worthing yesterday with full service honours. Worthing people welcomed the opportunity to show honour to a townsman who had laid down his life in one of the most brilliant naval exploits of the war, and the occasion was unique in that the funeral was the first to take place locally during the war of a naval man killed in action. Seaman Harry Hosier was serving on the destroyer leader “Broke,” so valiantly commanded by Commander Edward Evans, CB, when he met his end. He died the death of a Briton after nobly doing his duty. The coffin was conveyed from Dover to Worthing for the funeral at the request of the deceased’s relatives. Scenes of the most impressive character were witnessed, the route of the procession being thronged from one end to the other, and several thousand people assembled at the cemetery…
The Red. EJ Elliott (Rector) officiated, and from the pulpit gave a stirring address. He said “In the course of the 700 years’ history of this church, I don’t suppose there has ever been a service quite like the present one – the funeral of a Broadwater man killed in action. Forty or more Broadwater men have already made the supreme sacrifice, and we are glad this afternoon to be able in a special way to honour these noble men. In all probability Henry Hosier will be the last in this war who will be called upon to die whose funeral will take place at home. In doing honour to whim whose mortal remains are with us this afternoon – the remains of a gallant bluejacket belonging to HMS Broke – we do honour to our two score other parishioners who at the call of duty, joined up, and are now sleeping their last sleep.
“They heard their Motherland calling to them for the help of their sons and at once, with enthusiasm and alacrity, they responded. They loved their loves as we do, but they loved something more – they had a deeper love for their country and for the safety of their homes and hearth. They died, let us remember, for us, in order that we at home might be spared the agony and the martyrdom of the Belgians and the Serbians. They died in order that we might remain safe and comfortable in the home land and not be called upon the endure the nameless agony and also the atrocities perpetrated by the Huns. We leave the soul of Henry Hosier and of our 40 other Broadwater heroes in God’s hands…”
[Sussex Daily News: Friday 27th April 1917]
Two of Harry’s siblings – Christopher and Ernest – had added to the tally of Broadwater’s forty.
Ernest Hosier was born in 1895, and was the ninth of Charles and Elizabeth’s children. He found work as an errand boy when he left school, but managed to associate himself with the wrong group of friends.
Ernest Hosier, 14, errand boy, on bail, and Frederick Clark, 21, rag and bone collector, were indicted for offences against Fanny Newman and Alice Smith, girls between 13 and 16 years of age, at Worthing, between December 1st, 1909, and March 11th, 1910.
Clark pleaded guilty and Hosier not guilty. The latter gave an absolute denial to the charge, and suggested that the girls had associated him with the charge in revenge because he would have nothing to do with them…
After hearing the evidence, the jury found Hosier not guilty, and his Lordship said he was discharged without any imputation whatever upon his character. Clark was sentenced to six months’ hard labour, his Lordship remarking that girls of the character of those in this case were a terror and a real temptation to men.
[Hastings and Bexhill Independent: Thursday 30th June 1910]
Soon after the court hearing, Ernest joined the Royal Navy, the 1911 census recording him as a boarder at the Training Establishment in Shotly, near Ipswich, Suffolk. After serving on a number of vessels, he came of age, and formally enlisted as an Ordinary Seaman on 16th October 1912. Within a year he had been promoted to Able Seaman and in the summer of 1914, he was assigned to the battlecruiser HMS Invincible.
Able Seaman Hosier was on board during the Battle of Heligoland Bight in August 1914, and the Battle of the Falklands that November. In May 1916 Invincible was involved in the Battle of Jutland, and Ernest was one of the 1,000 crew who were killed when she was was hit by a number of German salvoes and sank. Able Seaman Hosier was 21 years of age, and is commemorated on Portsmouth Naval Memorial.
Christopher Hosier was born in 1887, and was working as a cellarman when war broke out. He enlisted in the Royal Sussex Regiment, and was assigned to the 7th Battalion.
In the autumn of 1917, Private Hosier’s unit was caught up on the Western Front, as Arras and Cambrai. It was here, on 20th November 1917, that he was killed, although his body was not recovered. He was 29 years of age, and is commemorated on the Cambrai Memorial.
Military honours were accorded at the funeral, on Saturday, of Lieutenant Arthur Edwin Cartland, of the Royal Flying Corps, who was killed in a flying accident near Newcastle.
The deceased officer was a son of Mrs FA Cartland, of Wentworth House, Western-place, and although only twenty-one years of age, he had seen considerable active service in France, having joined the Flying Corps in July, 1913, or some thirteen months before the outbreak of the War.
He took up his Commission in September last, and was home on leave only three days before his death, in order to see his brother, who is in the Motor Transport Section of the Army Service Corps.
[Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 6th March 1918]
Arthur Edward Cartland was born in Winkfield, Berkshire, on the 12th January 1897. One of seven children, his parents were general labourer William Cartland and his wife, Ann.
When Arthur left school, he found work on a local farm, although from here on in, his trail becomes more of a challenge to decipher. While some of the information in the newspaper article is incorrect, he definitely joined the Royal Flying Corps on 17th July 1913. By this point, the family had moved to West Sussex.
When war broke out, the now Air Mechanic 1st Class Cartland was sent to France, although he did have two months out in 1915, due to an operation on a hernia. In May 1916, Arthur had been promoted to Sergeant, with his commission following eighteen months later.
In February 1918, Second Lieutenant Cartland was attached to the 75th Training Squadron at Cramlington Airfield, Northumberland. He was flying a de Havilland DH4 on the 25th February, when the accident that ended his life occurred. The Casualty Card noted that:
…the accident was due to 2L Cartland attempting to turn back to [the] aerodrome when only 50ft up. He stalled on [the] turn and nose dived into the ground. The adjustable tail plane control was right back in the landing position, this would tend to make the machine stall on a turn. As far as was possible to ascertain from the examination of the crash the controls were okay.
Arthur Edward Cartland was laid to rest in Broadwater Cemetery, to the north of Worthing town centre.
The brother Arthur had come home to visit – Stephen Cartland – had found work as a page when he completed his schooling. In December 1908 he enlisted in the Royal Navy, spending five years as an Officer’s Steward and Cook. When war broke our he joined the Army Service Corps.
Another brother, William, had also served in the First World War, rising to the rank of Corporal in the 1st Battalion of the Royal Berkshire Regiment. He was badly wounded at Ypres in the autumn of 1914, succumbing to his injuries on the 9th November. Also 21 years of age, Corporal Cartland was laid to rest in Poperinghe Old Military Cemetery.
Robert William Collett was born on 20th April 1893 in Barnsbury, now part of Islington, Middlesex. Little information about his early life remains available – he does not feature on any census records – although later records confirm than his parents were called George and Sarah.
When he completed his schooling, Robert found work as a baker, but he had bigger and better things in mind. On 24th August 1911, he enlisted in the Royal Navy. His service papers show that he was 5ft 1.5ins (1.56m) tall, with dark brown hair and eyes, and a fresh complexion.
Stoker 2nd Class Collett was sent to HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, for his training. In February 1912, he was given his first assignment, on board the battleship HMS Berwick. She would be his home for the next year, during which time he was promoted to Stoker 1st Class.
After a further spell on shore, Robert transferred to another battleship, HMS Swiftsure. She would spend much of the war serving in the Mediterranean, with Stoker Collett on board. He seems to have had a rebellious nature, and this led to his time aboard Swiftsure not being smooth sailing.
During his time on the battleship Robert spent three separate period in the brig: three days in October 1914, and seven days in June 1915. In October that year, things came to a head, and he was convicted of threatening to strike an Engine Room Artificer. For this he was incarcerated again, for 42 days.
Stoker Collett left Swiftsure in May 1916, and transferred to another vessel, the battlecruiser HMS Repulse. After an eight-month stint on board, he returned to Chatham while waiting for a new posting. His time here was not without incident, however, and he was thrown in the brig for a further seven days for an unrecorded misdemeanour.
HMS Pembroke was overcrowded in the summer of 1917, and when he was released Stoker Collett was billeted in temporary accommodation in the dockyard’s Drill Hall.
By this point in the war, the German Air Force was looking to minimise daytime casualties, and was, instead, trialling night raids; on 3rd September, Chatham found itself in their flight path. The Drill Hall received a direct hit, and Stoker 1st Class Collett was killed, along with more than 100 others. He was just 24 years old.
The body of Robert William Collett was taken back to London for burial. He was laid to rest in Islington Cemetery, not far from where his parents were 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.]
Charles Edward Barlow was born on 3rd January 1886, and was the second of eight children to John and Agnes. John was a Serjeant Major in the Royal Fusiliers, and his work meant the family moved a lot. Charles and his older brother were born in Dublin, Ireland, while Agnes gave birth to his younger siblings in Essex, Ireland, Hampshire and London.
John died in the late 1890s, and the 1901 census found Agnes and four of the children – including Charles – living at 18 Ethel Road, a small terraced cottage in the centre of Portsmouth, Hampshire. Agnes was listed as a shirt maker, while Charles was apprenticed to a boiler maker.
The apprenticeship obviously stood Charles in good stead, and he later found employment as the local dockyard, HMS Victory. The 1911 census recorded mother and son living at 124 Ernest Road, in the Buckland area of Portsmouth. Slightly further from where Charles was working, this was, however, a larger property.
A new opportunity presented itself in the spring of 1912, when Charles formally enrolled in the Royal Navy. His engineering background served him well, and he took the rank of Engine Room Artificer 4th Class. Initial training was provided at Portsmouth Dockyard, and he then moved to the neighbouring bases HMS Fisgard that autumn, and HMS Dryad in February 1913.
After a two month posting on board the torpedo gunboat HMS Harrier, Charles would return to shore in the summer of 1914. On 1st January 1915, however, he was assigned to the depot ship HMS Dido, and she would remain his home for nearly four years. During this time, he was promoted to Engine Room Artificer 3rd Class.
In the autumn of 1918, with the war in its final weeks, Charles fell ill. He was disembarked and admitted to the War Hospital in Bath, suffering from pneumonia. The condition would prove his undoing, and he passed away on 17th November: he was 32 years of age.
The body of Charles Edward Barlow was taken to Bradford on Avon for burial, possibly due to a familial connection in the area, and he was laid to rest in the town’s cemetery.
