Tuesday 31st May 2016

In war the loss of life is always massive no more so than WWI. The navel battle at Jutland is often overlooked how is this possible? The Black Prince is often also missed out when talking about this battle. I feel an affinity with this ship after seeing the connection with it at Knowle church in 1995. so here I post about its loss on 31st May 1916.Today in 1916…the Battle of Jutland. 100 years ago, the greatest sea battle of World War One took place off the coasts of Norway and Denmark. Both sides claimed victory: although the German navy sank more ships and tonnage, the British forced the German navy back into port, maintaining a naval blockade of Germany for the rest of the war.

Its the small things I try to focus upon on days such as this. The immense loss of life and terrible pain felt by the multitude of humans experienced is just too big to comprehend. So here I post a memory of one ship. If you can understand the loss of one ship maybe then you can understand a feel how this must be multiplied by the whole war. The football team belonged to the Black Prince. The items are in Knowle parish church where the Sunday School had chosen to adopt this ship. The ensign was created by member of its crew and reached the Sunday school on the very day it was lost with all hands.

Many men from from Knowle parish many Sunday school attendees choir boys were lost in WWI both on land and at sea.

One was Frank Smitten RN who was aboard the Black Prince.

The flag a white ensign is inside a glass case in Knowle church was from the Black Prince. The Sunday school had adopted the ship.
The flag had been made by the sailors and it was delivered to the parish exactly on the day that the Black Prince was lost.

I wrote this in 1995 its pretty terrible now I think as my poetry has improved but I just wanted to share it as it is near the anniversary of the loss of the ship.

From Hell on high water
To Sunday school laughter
They felt the grey steel rain down
Black Prince was lost
At oh what a cost
Its ensign to flurry no more
From Sunday school laughter
To Jutland’s slaughter
While the flag being delivered
The Black Prince shivered
As she was brutally torn apart
Now where the choir boys sat
Playing at this and at that
Silver gleams from a mother’s heart

I just tried to update it a little..

Black Prince 100 years on 1916-1995-2016

From Sunday school laughter
To Hell on high water
They felt the grey steel rain down

Black Prince was lost
At oh what a cost
Its ensign to flurry no more

While the flag being delivered
Black Prince shivered
As she was brutally torn apart

Now where the choir boys sat
Playing at this and at that
Silver gleams from a mother’s heart

From Sunday school laughter
To Jutland’s slaughter
All now lost in the fog of war

HMS Black Prince

No one survived the sinking of HMS Black Prince and no one saw her sink yet there are many accounts of sightings just before she met her end in pitch darkness in the middle of the night – sightings made possible by the fact that she was ablaze from end to end and drifting helplessly in close proximity to other ships.
There have been many conjectures about what really happened to Black Prince on the night of May 31st. At the time, many relatives of the lost crew were angry and a story was circulated that after the ship was hit, the Captain was ordered to return home. He, however, had wanted to stay and fight but in her crippled state, Black Prince soon became an easy target for the German Fleet and was easily destroyed with the loss of all hands.
After the Great War, however, historians were able to access German records containing more realistic accounts of what actually occurred. Black Prince was an armoured cruiser belonging to the First Cruiser Squadron under the command of Rear Admiral Sir Robert Arburthnot. Sailing with her were Defence, Warrior and The Duke of Edinburgh which was to be the only survivor of the Squadron.

During the battle which followed their arrival on the scene, Black Prince seems to have lost contact with the remaining British Fleet; she was last heard of at 8.48 when she sent off a signal to say there had been a submarine sighting. It was beginning to get dark by now and so much was happening that other British ships had no time to look out for her.

So we look to the German account which says that just before midnight, the Black Prince approached the German lines, possibly thinking their outlines were those of British vessels. At some point, the Captain seems to have realised his mistake and ordered his crew to turn Black Prince round but by that time he had been spotted from the German battleship Thüringen which immediately switched on its powerful spotlights and opened fire. There were five more German ships all within a range of 1000 yards and all of them joined in the bombardment.

And now at last we can find an eyewitness account from a member of crew on board HMS Spitfire:
“We were just recovering from our ramming match with the German cruiser, and most of the ship’s company were collected aft, when suddenly there was a cry from nearly a dozen people at once: “Look out!”
I looked up, and saw a few hundred yards away on our starboard quarter, what appeared to be a battle cruiser on fire, steering straight for our stern. To our intense relief, she missed our stern but just by a few feet; so close was she to us that we were actually under her guns, which were trained out on her starboard beam, She tore past us with a roar, rather like a motor roaring up a hill in low gear, and the very crackling and heat of the flames could be heard and felt. She was a mass of fire from fore-mast to main-mast, on deck and between decks. Flames were issuing out of her from every corner.
At first sight she appeared to be a battle cruiser, as her funnels were so far apart but afterwards it transpired that she was the unfortunate Black Prince with her two centre funnels gone. Soon afterwards, soon after midnight, there came an explosion from the direction in which she had disappeared.”

Years Ahead

Guy N Pocock

YEARS ahead, years ahead,
Who shall honour our sailor-dead ?
For the wild North Sea, the bleak North Sea,
Threshes and seethes so endlessly.
Gathering foam and changing crest
Heave and hurry, and know no rest :
How can they mark our sailor-dead
In the years ahead ?
Time goes by, time goes by,

And who shall tell where our soldiers lie ?
The guiding trench-cut winds afar,
Miles upon miles where the dead men are;
A cross of wood, or a carven block,
A name-disc hung on a rifle-stock
These shall tell where our soldiers lie
As the time goes by.

Days to come, days to come
But who shall ask of the wandering foam,
The weaving weed, or the rocking swell,
The place of our sailor-dead to tell ?
From Jutland reefs to Scapa Flow
Tracks of the wary warships go,
But the deep sea-wastes lie green and dumb
All the days to come.

Years ahead, years ahead,
The sea shall honour our sailor-dead !
No mound of mouldering earth shall show
The fighting place of the men below,
But a swirl of seas that gather and spill;
And the wind’s wild chanty whistling shrill
Shall cry ” Consider my sailor-dead! ”
In the years ahead.

Lines Written Somewhere in the North Sea

Noel F. M. Corbett

The laggard hours drift slowly by; while silver mist-wreaths veil the sky
And iron coast wheron, flung high, the North Sea breaks in foam.
When flame the pallid Northern Lights on seeming age-long winter nights,
Then oftentimes for our delight God sends a dream of Home.

And once again we know the peace of little red-roofed villages
That nestle close in some deep crease amid the rolling wealds
That northward, eastward, southward sweep, fragrant with thyme and flecked with sheep,
To where the corn is standing deep above the ripening fields.

And once again in that fair dream I see the sibilant, swift stream –
Now gloomy-green and now agleam – that flows by Furnace Mill,
And hear the plover’s plaintive cry above the common at Holtye,
When redly glows the dusky sky and all the woods are still.

Oh, I remember as of old, the copse aflame with russet gold,
The sweet half-rotten Scent of mould, the while I stand and hark
To unseen woodland life that stirs before the clamant gamekeepers,
Till, sudden, out a pheasant whirrs to cries of “Mark cock, mark!”

And there are aged inns that sell the mellow, cool October ale,
What time one tells an oft-told tale around the friendly fires,
Until the clock with muffled chime asserts that it is closing time,
And o’er the fields now white with rime the company retires.

How long ago and far it seems, this peaceful country of our dreams,
Of fruitful fields and purling streams – the England that we know:
Who holds within her sea-girt ring all that we love, and love can bring;
Ah, Life were but a little thing to give to keep her so!

HMS Black Prince Crew

Captain
Thomas P. Bonham, R. N.

Commander
John B. Waterlow, D.S.O.

Lieutenant Commander
David W. S. Douglas.
Charles S. Morris.

Lieutenant
Robert I. Faulkner.
Robert C. Chichester.
William W. J. Fletcher.
Geoffrey H. V. Bayfield.
Harold Blow, R.N.R.
Charles F. Halliday, R.N.R.

Engineer Commander
George E. A. Crichton.

Engineer Lieutenant Commander
James D. Niven.

Engineer Lieutenant
Ernest W. Caine.

Captain
Alfred W. Delves-Broughton, R.M.L.I.

Lieutenant
Geoffrey R. Steinthal, R.M.L.I.

Chaplain
Rev. William F. Webber, B.A

Chaplain (R. C.)
Rev. S. J. Phelan.

Fleet Surgeon
Herbert L. Geoghegan, M.B.

Surgeon
Thomas M. Wood-Robinson.
John S. D. MacCormac.

Sub-Lieutenant
Arthur H. C. Barlow.
Thomas McL. Hutchinson, R.N.V.R.

Mate
Thomas H. Clark.

Mate (E)
Henry T. Cleare.

Asst. Paymaster
John P. Rising.
Harry H. Palmer, R.N.R.
Edgar S. Price, R.N.R.

Chief Gunner
George F. Collingwood.

Chief Boatswain
Frederick H. Mansbridge.

Gunner
Donald Simpson.
William A. Morrell.

Boatswain
William J. Grier.

Signal Boatswain
Henry H. Rowe.

Carpenter
Ernest H. Mortimer.

Acting Artificer Engineer
Albert Middleton.

Artificer Engineer
William G. H. Pike.
James Wood row.
Thomas Cole.

Abbott, William, A.B. Alborn, Walter Cecil, E.R.A. 4. Algeo, John, Sto. 1.
Allen, Henry, Boy 1. Allen, William, Sto. 1. Allsop, Frederick Stanley, Boy 1.
Ambler, Arthur William, Armourer. Anderson, Alf. Geo., Of. Std. 3. Anderson, John, Sto. 1.
Ansted, Alf. Chas., A.B. Applin, Henry Cecil, Sto. 1. Archdeacon, Patrick John, P.O.
Armitage, George, Sto. 1. Armstrong, Alfred J., Pte. R.M.L.I. Arnell, William Arthur, A.B.
Ash, Joseph, Boy 1. Aspinall, Fredk. S., Pte. R.M.L.I. Atkin, William Herbert, Sto. 1.
Atkinson, William George, Sto. 1. Austin, Frank, Sto. P.O. Ayling, Alfred J., Pte. R.M.L.I.
Bacon, William Fredk., A.B. Bailey, Frank Alfred, A.B. Baker, George Edward, Sto. 1.
Ball, William Henry, A.B. Banks, Leonard, Boy 1. Barker, George Henry, Ld. Sea.
Barker, Philip Alan, Act. E.R.A. 4. Barnard, Francis John, Ld. Sea. Barnes, Chas. Fredk., Mech.
Barrett, Arthur Samuel, A.B. Barsby, Thomas, Pte. R.M.L.I. Barsdell, William, A.B.
Bartlett, William James, Act. E.R.A. 4. Barton, Robert, A.B. (R.N.V.R.) Bates, Claude Leslie, A.B.
Batty, Charles Anthony, Sto, P.O. Batty, Wm. Edward, Sto. P.O. Bax, Arthur, Sto. 1.
Baxter, George Henry, Boy 1. Beacock, Frederick, Sto. 1. Beagley, John, A.B.
Beard, William Robert, Ld. Sto. Beasent, Joseph, Sto. 1. Beaumont, Henry, Ld. Sto.
Beaton, Albert Edward. Sto. P.O. Beckingham, Henry, E.R.A. 3. Beetson, Arthur, Sig. Boy.
Bell, Arthur, Sto. 1. Bell, Robert Fearn, Sto. 1. Bell, Thomas, Sto. 1.
Benfell, Bernard, A.B. Bennett, John, Sto R.N.R. Bennett. George Samuel, A.B. (R.N.V.R.)
Bermingham, John Bryan, Act.
E.R.A. 4. Berryman, Thomas, P.O. Bethell, Herbert, Sto. 1.
Bevan, John Daniel, Sto. 1. Bickers, George William, A.B. Biddlecombe, Charles, Sto. 1.
Billingham, Arthur, Act. Elec. Art. 4. Binns, Ernest, A.B. (R.N.V.R.) Birchnall, Albert Edward, Sto. 1.
Bird, Frank Henry, Sto. 1. Birnie, Fredk. Harry Thompson,
A.B. Bishop, David, Ord. Sea.
Bishop, James, Sto. 1. Biss, Alfred, A.B. Blackmore, Gerald Ackland, Sig. Boy.
Blandford, Sidney H., Pte. R.M.L.I. Blatchford, John Augustine, P.O. Bodman, Jacob Walter, Ld. Sea.
Boggust, Wm. James, Ch. Sh. Cook. Bonner, William, Pte. R.M.L.I. Booth, Albert Edward, A.B.
Bottoms, Arthur David, A.B. Boulton, Francis Frank, A.B. Bourne, Richard Arthur, Ord. Sea
Bowerman, Chas. G., Pte. ‘R.M.L.I. Bowler, Theodore William Wood,
Ord. Sea. Bowley. Chas. James, Ld. Sto.
Bradford, Joseph Henry, Sto. 1. Bradshaw, Henry, Ld. Sea. Braginton, Wm., Shipwright 2.
Braine, George Herbert, A.B.
(R.N.V.R.) Brennan, James, Ld. Sea. Brewer, Arthur John, A.B.
Brewerton, Abraham H., Pte.
R.M.L.I. Briggs, Harry, P.O. Briggs, Henry. Ld. Sto.
Broadhurst, Harold Alfred, Boy 1. Brookman, Kenneth Douglas, A.B. Brooks, Robert, A.B.
Brown, Charles Edward, Sto. 1. Brown, Clarence Haman, A.B. Brown, George Brewer, Yeo. of Sigs.
Browne, Leonard, Elec. Art. 2. Buckland, Sidney Geo., A.B. Budgen, Archibald Sydney, A.B.
Buick, Leigh, Ld. Sea. Bulbeck, Wm. Alfred. Yeo. of Sigs. Bundy, Percival Charles, Plum. M.
Bunn, William James, Mech. Burden, Fredk. Geo., Mech. Burgoyne, William, Ord. Sea.
Burns, Peter, Sto. R.N.R. Butchart, Jeremiah, Ord. Sea. Butcher, Frederick, Ord. Sea.
Butler, Amos, Sto. 1. Butler, Ernest Edmund, A.B. Butler, Thomas Wm., Sto. R.N.R.
Butlin, John H., Pte. R.M.L.I. Cake, Ernest, P.O. Callaghan, Bernard, Pte. R.M.L.I.
Cameron, Percy, Sto. 1. Cameron, William Henry. Sto. 1. Carlile, Herbert, Sto. 1.
Carpendale, Reuben Benj., Sto. 1. Carpenter, Charles Henry, Sto. 1. Carter, Fredk. William, Sto. 1.
Cauchi, John, Of. Std. 1. Caulfield, Moses, A.B. Causton, Geoffrey Horace, A.B.
(R.N.V.R.)
Chalk, George Henry, A.B. Champ, Herbert, A.B. Chandler, Walter Henry, A.B.
Charnell, Herbert George, Sig. Chappell, Horace James, Arm. C. Chester, Herb. John, P.O.
Chetcuti, Guiseppe, Of. Std. 2. Chipperfield, Wm. Fredk., Boy 1. Christal, John, Sto. 1.
Churcher, Henry J., Pte. R.M.L.I. Churchill, Arth. E., Pte. R.M.L.I. Clark, Harry, A.B.
Clarke, Arthur John, Sto. 1. Clarke, Ernest Edgar, A.B. Clifford, Henry Joseph, Ord. Sea.
Cochrane, Ernest Harold, Sto. 1. Cochrane, Wilfred Douglas, A.B. Cockerill, Joseph William, Sto. 1.
Codd, Harry, E.R.A. 1. Coggan, Harold William, A.B. Cole, Arthur Barker, A.B.
(R.N.V.R.)
Cole, Wm. Henry John, Ld. Sea. Colebrook, Edwin, Ch. P.O. Collins, James, Sto. P.O.
Connor, Dominick, Sea. R.N.R. Conway, Harry, Pte. R.M.L.I. Cook, George Edward, A.B.
Cook, William Alfred, Sto. 1. Coombs, Harry. Ch. Sto. Cooper, Alfred William, Sto. P.O.
Cooper, John Hiram Ward, A.B.
(R.N.V.R.) Cooper, William James, A.B.
(R.N.V.R.) Cooper. Horace William, C.C.
Cope, George Henry, A.B. Copp, Ernest Fredk., Ch. P.O. Costard, Edward Charles, A.B.
Cotillard, Henry Louis, Sto. 1. Coulson, Thomas, Sto. 1. Courteney, Leonard, A.B.
Cousins, Thomas Alec. Geo., A.B. Cowan, Richard, Sto. 1. Coward, Thomas A., Pte. R.M.L.I.
Cowdrey, Alfred Albert, P.O. Cox, Ernest George, Ord. Sea. Cox, Frederick, A.B.
Cox, Maurice, Sig. R.N.V.R. Cracknell, Thomas Henry, Ch. Sto. Crawford, James, Sto. 1.
Crawshaw, Harry, Sto. 1. Credland, Herbert, A.B. Croft, Elimas Oliver, Sto. 1.
Croft, Sidney, A.B. (R.N.V.R.) Cross, Robert Ignatius, Yeo. of Sig. Cudby, Frank, A.B. (R.N.V.R.)
Cumner, William George, A.B. Cunningham, Michael, Sto. 2. Cuomo, Guiseppe, Bandsman.
Curran, Michael, P.O. 1. Cutler, Wm. Arthur Geo., Sto. 1. Dabbs, William, Pte. R.M.L.I.
Daily, James, A.B. (R.N.V.R.) Dakin, John Herbert, Ord. Sea. Dalby, Thomas, Boy 1.
Dann, William James, Ld. Cook.’s Mate. Darby, Fredk. George, Sig. Boy. Dash, Herbert, A.B.
Davies, Albert John, Act. Ch. Sto. Davies, Wm. George, A.B. Davis, Alfred, Cook’s Mate.
Davis, Chas. Henry Wm., 3rd
Writer. Davis, Frank, A.B. Davis, Horace W., Pte. R.M.L.I.
Dawson, James, Sto. R.N.R. Dean, Albert, Sh. Std. Asst. Deller, James Albert, Act. Ch. Sto.
Denning, Christian E., Pte. R.M.L.I. Dennis. George, A.B. Dermedy, John James, A.B.
Dicken, Frank Ernest, Sto. 1. Dickinson, Edgar, E.R.A. 4. Dickinson, Fred Gordon, Boy 1.
Dicks, Robt. Wm. James, Act. Ld.
Sto. Ditchfield. Harold, Ord. Sig. Dixon, Charles, Sto. 1.
Dixon, Rich. Turnbull, Boy 1. Dixon, Robert Milburn, Boy 1. Dobie, James Mathison, Sto. 1.
Doick, Charles Frank, A.B. Dolphin, Charles James, A.B. Doncaster, William, A.B.
Done, Thomas, Act. Ld. Sto. Dowd, Thomas, Sto. 1. Down, Ernest, S.B.S.
Drake. Victor Wm. Walter, Boy 1. Drover, John E., Pte. R.M.L.I. Drube, Otto, Blacksmith.
Dugdale. Ernest Chas., A.B. Duggan, Bernard, Wireman 2. Duncan, William, Sto. 1.
Dunford, John, Sto. P.O Duquemin, Hilary Wilfred, Of.
Cook 3. Dyer, James, Pte. R.M.L.I.
Dyer, Thomas, Ch. E.R.A. 1. Dyer, William, Sto. P.O. Dykes, Charlie, Sto. 1.
Eachus, Walter. A.B. (R.N.V.R.) Eagleton, Alfred, A.B. Easen, John Arthur, A.B.
Ebsworth, Geo. Wm., Ld. Sig. Edginton, Henry Simms, Sto. 1. Edwards, Harry Thomas, A.B.
(R.N.V.R.)
Edwards, James, Sto. 1. Ekin, Henry Richard, Wireman 2. Elledge, Henry John, Ld. Sto.
Elliott, Henry G., Pte. R.M.L.I. Evans, Alfred, Ld. Sto. Evans, Fredk. James, Ld. Sig.
Evans, Sidney, Sto. 1. Ewart, James Brodie, P.O. Exeter, Henry Marshall, Ch.
Writer. Exton, William, Ld. Sto Eyers, Ernest Harold, A.B. Eyles, Bertram Alfred, Pte. R.M.L.I.
Eyres, John Gilbert, Boy 1. Facey, Richard Enoch, Sto. 1. Fairbairn, John Edward, Plumbers Mate.
Faulkner, James Robert, P.O. Felton, Albert Edward, P.O. Fernot, Arthur, Ld. Sea.
Ferris, Reginald Jas. Fredk., Sh.
Std. Asst. Field, Arthur, Ld. Sea. Fisher, James C., Pte. R.M.L.I.
Fisher, Willie Sutton, Ord. Sea. Flack, Arthur, Pte. R.M.L.I. Fleetwood, Albert, Act. E.R.A. 4.
Fletcher, William, Sto. 1. Fletcher, Wm. Geo., Sto. P.O. Flower, Stanley Richard, Sto. 1.
Foam, Albert John, A.B. Ford, George, Sto. R.N.R. Ford, Richard, Pte. R.M.L.I.
Formo, Angelo, Bandsman. Foster, Henry, A.B. Foster, Walter, Sto. 1.
Fowler, Walter Charles, A.B. Fox, John Henry, Ld. Sto. Francis, Albert, Bov 1.
French, Edward John, A.B. French, Richard G., Pte. R.M.L.I. Freshwater, Wm. H., Boy 1.
Fudge. Alfred Harry, A.B. Garritty, Michael, Sto. 1. Gaskin, Luke, Pte. R.M.L.I.
George John, Sto. 1. George, John Reg., Act. E.R.A. 4. Gibbins, George W., Pte. R.M.L.I.
Gibbons, James Thomas, Ord. Sea. Gilbert, Burnham Wm., Sto. 1. Gilbert, Harold Thos.. Ord. Sea.
Gilbert, Horace James, Ord. Sea.
(R.N.V.R.) Gill, Harry Charles., Elec. Art. 3. Gillett, Wm., Ld. Sea.
Gillibrand, Roy Harold, A.B. Gingell, Joseph F., Pte. R.M.L I. Ginger, Edward, A.B.
Godwin, Wm. James, Ld. Sto. Goodchild, Arthur, Pte. R.M.L.I. Goodwin, John, Sto. 1.
Goodyear, Harry Edward, A.B. Cover, Samuel Henry, Mech. Grant, Frank, Arm. Mte.
Grasso, Luigi, Bandsman. Green, Charles James, Cooper. Green, Francis Albert, A. B.
Green, George, Pte. R.M.L.I. Green, Sydney Laurence, A.B. Green, Thomas, Sto. 1.
Greenwood, Wm. Parkinson, Sto.
R.N.R. Gregory, Francis, Ld. Sto. Griffiths, John Henry, A.B.
Grimes, Fredk. Thos., Boy 1. Gritt, James Alfred, Act Ld. Sto. Grossmith, Fred. James, Ord. Sea.
Grossmith, John Albert, A.B. Guinta, Constantino, Bandsman. Gull, Douglas Harry, Sto. 1.
Gullett, James Anthony, Sig. Boy. Gulvin, Leonard Gordon, A.B. Gunner, Chris. J., Pte. R.M.L.I.
Haizelden, James Charles. A.B. Hake, Fredk. Geo. Beames, A.B. Halford, William, Arm. Crew.
Hall, John T., Mech. Hallam, George Fredk. Bertie, A.B. Hamill, Thos., Sto. 1.
Hamilton, Lawrence, Sto. R.N.R. Hamilton, Richard, Sto. R.N.R. Hannan, Edw. Wm. Jos., Sto. P.O.
Hansford, Reginald Gordon, A.B. Harman, Charles Fredk., Tel. Harper, Wm. John, Sto. 1.
Harris, Wilfred J., Pte. R.M.L.I. Harrison, Albert Edward, Cook’s Mte. Harrison, John, Sto. 1.
Hart, Joseph, Sto. 1. Hartwell, Norman Leslie, A.B. Hawkins, Wm. Edward, Sto. 1.
Haynes, Edward, Sto. 1. Head, Ernest Albert, A.B. Heath, John Thomas, Ch. P.O.
Hellier, George Wm.. E.R.A. 3. Hellyer, Henry, Sto. P.O. Henderson, Henry James, Ld. Sea.
Herrington, Herbert, A.B. Herrod, Arthur, A.B. Heywood, Samuel, Sto. P.O.
Hickson, Arthur, A.B. (R.N.V.R.) Higgins, Frederick. Daniel. York.,
Pte. R.M.L.I. Hill, Charles Alfred, Blacksmith.
Hill, George, Sto. P.O. Hine, Fredk. George, Act. Ch. Sto. Hoar, Charles. H., Pte. R.M.L.I.
Hoar, Ernest W., Pte. R.M.L.I. Hodge, William, A.B. Holbrow, Chas., Sto. 1.
Holden, Charles. Robert Chivers, A.B. Holden, Harold William, A.B. Holmes, James, Sto. 1.
Holmes, Wm. Llewellyn. Sh. Std. Holt, Ernest A., Pte. R.M.L.I. Hooper, Charles H., Sergt. R.M.L.I.
Houghton, Samuel. Sea. R.N.R. Houston, Daniel, Sto. R.N.R. Howcroft, Ernest, Sto. 2
Howes, Albert, A.B. Howie, James, Sto. R.N.R. Hughes, Edward, Boy 1.
Hughes, Fredk. Geo., A.B. Hughes, James, Sto. 1. Huish, Edward Charles, Ord. Sea.
Hunsley. Thomas, Sto. 1. Hunt, ‘William, Ld. Sea. Iddon, Fredk. Chas., Sto. 2.
Illingworth, Julius Leslie, P.O. Inglis, Charles, Pte. R.M.L.I. Ingram, Arthur Wm. Charles, A.B.
James, Sidney Ernest, Ld. Sto. Jenkins. Wm. David, Ld. Sea. Jeram, Edward William Sandell, A.B.
John, Herbert Stephen. Shipw. 1. Johnson, James, Sto. 1. Jones, Arthur Harold, E.R.A. 4.
Jones, Charles, Sto. 1. Jones, David George, Sig (R.N.V.R.) Jones, Edw. Clifford, A.B.
Joy, Charles William, Sto. 1. Jupp, Harold Arthur, Ord. Sea. Keeling, Geo. Thomas, Ld. Sea.
Kemp, Norman, Parkhurst, A.B. Kemp, Thomas Harry, Sto. 1. Kempster, Albert Ernest, Ord. Sig.
Kennedy, Robert Coxon, Sto. 1. Kettell, Frederick, P.O. Kidston, Arthur S., Pte. R.M.L.I.
Kilty, Leonard, A.B. Kimber, Herbert John, Ld. Sto. Kimber, Jos. Wm., A.B.
Kirk, Henry, Sto. 1. Knight, Charles Edward, Sto. 1. Knight, Edward Frank Victor, A.B.
Knight. George, Sto. 1. Knight, George Wm., Sto. 1. Knight, Henry, P.O.
Knight, Wm. Henry, Of. Std. 2. Laine, Arthur, Ch. E.R.A. 1. Lamb, John Angus, Ord. Sea.
Lambert, William, A.B. Lamper, Henry James, A.B. Lane, Arthur Mark, A.B.
Lane, Charles Henry, Shipw. 1. Lane, Wallace, Ld. Sea. Lane, Wm. K., Pte. R.M.L.I.
Lang, Alec., Sto. 1. Laroche, George, Sto. R.N.R. Last, Alfred Henry, A.B.
Lawrence, Robert G., A.B.
(R.N.V.R.) Leary, Edward, Sto. R.N.R. Leary, Patrick, Ch. Sto.
Lee, Douglas Arthur. A.B. Legg, George James, P.O. Lemon, Herbert Sidney, Elec. Art. 3.
Leonard, John Wm., Sto. 1. Levett, Stanley Henry, Boy Tel. Lewis, George Wm., A.B. (R.N.V.R.)
Lewis, James, Sto. 1. Lightowler, Thos. Joseph, Ord. Sea. Linshill, Fredk. C.. Pte. R.M.L.I.
Lisley, Ronald, Ord. Sig. Littlewood, Charles Francis North,
Ld. Sig. Lloyd, Edwin, Sto. R.N.R.
Lloyd, Thomas, A.B. Lockley, Howard F., Cpl. R.M.L.I. Lomas, Fred., Sto. 1.
Long, Gilbert John, A.B. Ludham, James G., Pte. R.M.L.I. Lugg, Reginald F., Pte. R.M.L.I.
McBride, Cyril, A.B. (R.N.V.R.) McConochie, David, Sto. 1. McCormack, Fred. Wm., Sto. R.N.R.
McCormick, Alec., Sto. R.N.R. McDonald, George, Sto. 1. McDonald, John Campbell, Ld. Tel.
McGee. Henry, Sto. R.N.R. McGillivray, Peter, Sto. R.N.R. Mclntyre, Patrick, Sto. 1.
Mclvor, Robert James, Sto. R.N.R. McKevitt, Thomas, Sto. 2. McLaren, John, Boy 1.
McLennan, Matthew, Sto. R.N.R. McMullen, Daniel, A.B. McPeak, Charles William Lemuel,
Ld. Sea.
McPhail, John, Sto. R.N.R. MacDonald, Thomas, Pte. R.M.L.I. Macfarlane, George, A.B.
MacLeod, Donald, Ld. Sto. Maddocks, Chas. William, Sto. 1. Magann, John Austin, Sto. P.O.
Magarity, Joseph, Ch. E.R.A. 2 Maidmen, Sydney Walter, A.B. Mair, Horace Arthur, Sto. 1.
Major, Thomas, Sto. 1. Mallindine, George William., Boy 1. Mansell, Frederick Chas., A.B.
Maples, George Fredk., P.O. 1. Marchant, George Henry, P.O. 1. Marchant, Sydney Victor, A.B.
Marks, Walter, A.B. Marsh, John Wm., Ord. Sea. Marshall, Charles William, Sto. P.O.
Martell, Edward, A.B. Martin, Edward, Pte. R.M.L.I. Martin, Joe, Boy 1.
Mason, Albert Edward, Boy 1. Mason, John Andrew, Sto. 1. Mason, William Henry, A.B.
(R.N.V.R.)
Massey, Chales. Clifford, Elec. Art. 4. Mather, Ernest, A.B. Mather, William, A.B.
Matthews, Charles, Sto. 1. Matthews, Frederick George, Of. Std. 1. Matthews, Joseph William., Sto. 1.
Matthews, William. Thos., C.C. Maule, George, Boy 1. Mavin, John Wm., A.B. (R.N.V.R.)
Maxted. Chas. Bertram, Boy Tel. May, Frederick. William., Ld. Sto. Maynard, Thos., Sto. 1.
Meade, Leonard James, P.O. Meadows, Charles Stewart, P.O. Mears, Ezra, P.O. 1.
Meears, Alfred George, A.B. Meggs, Claude Douglas, Shipw. 2. Melia, William Edward James, Sto. 1.
Merrion, Sylvester, Boy 1 Micallef, John, Of. Std. 2. Milburn, Thomas James, Sto. 1.
Millar, James, A.B. (R.N.V.R.) Milner, John William, Sto. 1. Minter, Alex. Robert, Sh. Std. Asst.
Mitchell, Albert John, Sto. 1. Mitchell, Ernest, Sto. 1. Moody, Edward Ralph, P.O.
Morgan, John, A.B. (R.N.V.R.) Morgan, Wm. John, A.B. R.N.V.R.) Morton, John, A.B.
Moyse, Wm. Philip, Ld. Sea. Mulrooney, Edw. H. J., Bugler,
R.M.L.I. Mulvaney, William, Sto. 1.
Munden, Bert, Sto. 1. Nash, Alfred Nicholas, Ld. Sea. Nash, Arthur G., Pte. R.M.L.I.
Neish. Alexander, Sto. 1. Neville, Walter Edward, A.B. Neville, William Bronte, Ld. Sea.
Newbold, Charles, A.B. (R.N.V.R.) Newbury, Alfred Ernest, A.B. Nicholl, Robert, Boy 1.
Nicolson, Robert, A.B. Norris, Ernest Leonard, A.B. Offer, John Alfred, A.B.
Oldroyd, Joseph Edward, Sto. 1. Osborne, Frederick John, Ld. Sea. Osguthorpe, John Alfred, Boy 1.
O’Shea, James, A.B. Ostle, Joseph Daniel, Sto. 1. Palmer, Benjamin, Boy 1.
Palmer, Edmund, Ch. Sto. Palmer, Frederick. Wm., Ch. E.R.A. 1. Palmer, Robert Henry. E.R.A. 4.
Palmer, Thos. John Welch, Sto. 1. Parker, Charles Thomas Edward, Boy
Tel. Parr, James, Boy 1.
Parry, John Henry, Sto. 1. Parsons, Roland, W., Pte. R.M.L.I. Part, Frank Quarrell, E.R.A. 1.
Paskin, Wm. George, Act. Ld. Sto. Pass, Sidney, Ord. Sea. Paul, Frank Ernest, Ch. Sh.
Cook. Pawley, George William, A.B. Payne, Horace, A.B. Peachey, William, Sto. R.N.R.
Pearce, George, Sto. 1. Pennington, Richard Arthur, Act.
E.R.A. 4. Pennistone, Fredk. Chris., A.B.
Penny, Fredk., P.O Penny, Fredk. C., Pte. R.M.L.I. Pentney, George, Sto. 1.
Perfect, Fredk. Geo., Ord. Sea. Phenna, William, Sto. R.N.R. Phillips, Bertie, A.B.
Phillips, David, Ld. Sea. Phillips, Fredk. W., Pte. R.M.L.I. Phipps, John Wm., Boy 1.
Pick, Walter, Pte. R.M.L.I. Pickett, Sidney James, A.B. Pigford, Ernest Lynn, A.B.
(R.N.V.R.)
Pilcher, Harry George, A.B. Pinnock, George Edward, Boy 1. Piper, Albert George, C.P.O.
Pitt, George, Sto. R.N.R Plaskett, George Albert, Ch. Arm. Pointer, Fredk. Thomas, Sto. 1.
Polizzj, Achille, Bandsman. Pollard, James Ernest, O.S. Porter, John, Elec. Art. 4.
(R.N.V.R.)
Portoghese, Guiseppe, Bandsman. Portoghesi, Enrico, Bandsman. Powell, John Harold, O.S.
Power, Michael Joseph, Sto. 1. Pralle, Arthur Charles, Ld. Sto. Pratt, Arthur John, Sig. Boy.
Pratt, Percy Edes, Joiner. Preston, Francis George, O.S. Price, Albert William, O.S.
Price, Ernest Harold, A.B. Price, James Percival, Sto. 1. Price, William H., Pte. R.M.L.I.
Priddle, George Albert, Boy 1. Priestley, Benjamin, O.S. Primmer, John. H., L.-Sergt. R.M.L.I.
Prince, James, Cpl. R.M.L.I. Prior, Charles Martin, Sto. 1. Priori, Archimede, Bandsman.
Proctor, Amos Atherton, Sto. 1. Prophet, Allan, Sto. 1. Piow, Edward Albert, Act. C.P.O.
Quaintance, Albert Victor, A.B. Quarterman. Arch. Geo., E.R.A. 4. Quintrell, Alf. Leslie, Wireman 2.
Raine, Robert, Sto. 2. Rason, John Charles, Cook’s Mate. Ratcliffe, William Austin, Boy Tel.
Read, Albert Victor, A.B. Read, Henry W. C., Pte. R.M.L.I. Read, William. Henry, A.B.
Reay, Richard Edward, Shipw. 2. Renfrew, John Wilson, Sto. 1. Rennie, Robert, Sto. 1.
Richards, Frederick James, Sto. 1. Richardson, Albert Edward, Sto. 1. Richardson, Arthur W., Sergt.
R.M.L.I.
Richmond, Sidney Charles Augustus,
O.S. Rigler, Herbert Thomas, Plumber. Ritchie, James, A.B. (R.N.V.R.)
Robbins, John, A.B. (R.N.V.R.) Roberts, Leonard Albert, Sto. 1. Robertson, James, Sto. R.N.R.
Robertson, James Duthie, Sto. 1. Robertson, John Thomson, A.B. (R.N.V.R.) Robertson, Robt. P., Pte. R.M.L I.
Robinson, William G., Pte. R.M.L.I. Rodgers, James, A.B. (R.N.V.R.) Roe, James Parks. A.B.
Rooney, Thomas, Sto. R.N.R. Roots, William John, P.O. Rosmondo, Mattio. Bandsman.
Rowe, Jonathan, Sto. R.N.R. Rowlands, Robert Ernest, Boy 1. Ruff, John, Pte. R.M.L.I.
Rumney, Thomas Lancelot, Ld. Sea. Russell, Fred., Sto. R.N.R. Ryan, William, Sto. 1.
Rye, Francis William, Boy Tel. Saggers, John Martin, Sto. 1. Salmon, Victor, A.B.
Sample, John Williams, A.B. Sandell, Edward James. Boy 1. Sanders, Herbert, A.B. (R.N.V.R.)
Sanger, Frederick, Pte. R.M.L.I. Savage, Arthur Robert, A.B. Savage, John, Sto. 1.
Sawyer, Albert, P.O. Sawyer, Albert Edward, O.S. Scott, Ernest, Pte. R.M.L.I.
Scott, Robert, Ch. Sto. Scowen. Ernest William, A.B. Seal, Douglas, Boy Tel.
Shanks, James, Sto. R.N.R. Sharland, Cecil, O.S. Shaw, James, Sto. 1.
Shaw, Richard E., Pte. R.M.L.I. Shearman, Fred. Julian, Shipwright. Shearman, James, Sto. 2.
Shields, Neil, O.S. Silverson, Alfred John. Sto. 1. Simmonds, Walter Alfred, Ld. Sea.
Simmons, Geo. Fredk., A.B. Simmons, John, Sto. 1. Simpson, William Horace, A.B.
Skelton, William Henry, Sto. 1. Skyrme, Robert James, Sto. P.O. Slade, Thos. Edwin. A.B.
Slaymaker, Edwd. T., Cor. R.M.L.I. Smalley, Roland, Sto. 1. Smiley, George. A.B.
Smith, Bernard Samuel, Cook’s M. Smith, Bertie, Sto. 1. Smith, Charles Philip, A.B.
Smith, Frederick Wm. Ord. Sea. Smith. George William Harcourt Avondale,
Act. Ld. Sto. Smith, Hugh, Sto. 1.
Smith, Valentine, Pte. R.M.L.I. Smith, William J., Pte. R.M.L.I.. Smitten, Frank, A.B.
Snook, Bernard Frederick, Tel. Snow, Albert Edward, A.B. Soper, Robert Wilfred, A.B.
Spavound, George William, Ld Sto. Spearing, Samuel, Sto. 1. Spencer, Albert Edwin, Ld. Sea.
Spencer, Frank, Ld. Sig. Spiers, Matthew, Sto. 1. Stainer, Sidney Herbert. A.B.
Stansfield, John Robert, E.R.A. 3. Stanton. Thomas, Sto. 1. Stares, Thomas, Ch. Sto.
Stephen. Thomas, Sto. 1. Stevens, George, Sto 1. Stevens, Reginald Alfred, S.B.A.
Stevenson, Frank, Boy 1. Stewart, William, A.B. Stickley, Walter, P.O
Stimpson, Sydney A., Pte. R.M.L.I. Stokes, Herbert Norman, Sto. 1. Stokes, William, Sto. 1.
Stone, Jarvis. Sto. 1. Stone, Reginald Charles., A.B. Stothard, Albert, Sto. 1.
Stout, Albert E., Col.-Sergt.
R.M.L.I. Straiten, John, Sto. R.N.R. Strano, Dorrenico, Bandsman.
Strickland, Frederick, E.R.A. 4. Stronach, Charles, Pte. R.M.L.I. Stuart, William. Pte. R.M.L.I.
Sturgess, Cyril, Sto. 2. Sturgess, Ernest, Sto 1 Sullivan, Fredk. Wm., S.B.S. 2.
Sumner, Alfred Horace, Sig. Sutherland, Wm., Sto. 1. Sutton, Frank Edward, A.B.
Swift, Ernest, A.B. Syme, William Forrest, Sto. 2. Tagg, Albert Sidney, Sto. 1.
Talbot, Jack, Sto. 1. Tanner, alias Turner, Edwin, P.O. Tanner Joseph Harry, Mech.
Taplin, Alfred T., Pte. R.M.L.I. Tapp, Herbert Samuel, Boy 1. Tapping, Bertie John, A.B.
Tarling, Sidney Alfred, Ch. Sto. Tawney, Cyril V., Bugler. R.M.L.I. Taylor, David, A.B.
Taylor, Fred., Sto. P.O. Taylor, Frederick, Sto. 1. Taylor, Fredk. George, Sto. 1.
Taylor, William Thomas, A.B. Tettmar, William Thomas, Sig. Thomas, Hilton. A.B. (R.N.V.R.)
Thomas, Reginald. A.B. (R.N.V.R.) Thompson, Arthur Leonard. Ship’s Cook Thompson, Walter Chas.. Sto. 1.
Thorne, George Win., Ch. P.O. Tigwell, Frank. Boy 1. Tilbury, Lawrence A., Pte R.M.L.I.
Tilly, Evan Thomas, A.B. Tiltman, Albert, P.O. Tonks. Joseph, Sto. l.
Towills, George James, Ld. Sto. Townsend, Ernest John, A.B. Townsend, John Russell, Sig.
Trayhurn, George Henry, Sto. P.O. Trinder, Joseph, P.O. Tel. Tucker, Harry, Pie. R.M.L.I.
Turnbull. James, A.B. (R.N.V.R.) Turner, Charles Ernest, Sto. 1. Turner, Henry W. W.. Pte. R.M.L.I.
Ungaro. Luigi. Band Cpl. Urso, Giovanni, Bandsman. Vane, Alfred Ernest, Painter 2.
Varndell, Wm. Alfred Geo. James,
A.R. Varney, Reg. Thomas, Boy 1. Vassallo, Lewis. Carpenter’s Mate
Vause, Albert. Sto. 1. Vella, John, Of. Cook 1. Venns, Herbert Tames, A.B.
Verge, Thomas John, A.B. Verlander, Walter, A.B Vickery, Alexander Lrigh. A.B.
Viney, Bertie J., Cpl. R.M.L.I. Waddell, George E., A.B.
(R.N.R.) Walker, Edward Sam. Rich., Sto. 1.
Wall, Geo Norman. Ord. Sea. Walsh, Patt, Ld. Sea. Walters, Edwin John, Blacksmith’s M.
Walton, Ernest, Sto. 1. Walton, William, A.B. Ward, Harry Percival, Sig.
Ward, James William, Ld. Sto. Ward, William Fredk., Ord. Sea. Waters, John Hall, Boy 1.
Watkins, Daniel, A.B. (R.N V.R.) Watson, William. Charles, Cook’s Mate. Watts, Francis Edward, Sailmaker.
Wearn, Williams, Painter. Weaver, Leonard, Boy Tel. Webb, Fred. Charles, Boy Servant.
Webster, George, Sto. 1 Wells, Thomas Patrick, Sto. P.O. Welch, John, Ld. Sto.
Wescott, Samuel William George Armstrong, A.B. Westbrook Ernest Edwin, Sto. P.O. Weston, Moses, Boy 1.
Weyman, Frank Oliver, Cook’s M. 2. Whayling, John Richard, Ld. Sto. Wheeler, Henry Joseph, Sto. 2.
White, Ernest Tom, Ld. Sto. White, Jeffery Howard, Ord. Sea. White, John M., Pte. R.M.L.I.
Whiting, Victor John, P.O. 1. Wilcox, Walter Henry. Sto. 1. Wilkes, John, A.B.
Wilkins, Fred. Wm., Ch. Elec. Art. 2. Williams, Albert George, Boy 1. Williams, Edward Charles, Ld. Sea.
Williams, Ernest Victor, Sto. P.O. Williams, Thomas, P.O. Williams, Tom, Act. E.R.A. 4.
Williams. Tom, P.O. Willows, Herbert Stanley, A.B. Wills, Arthur S., Pte. R.M.L.I.
Wills, Thomas Perry, A.B. Willson, Sydney Frank. Yeo. of Sig. Wilson, Francis A.. Pte. R.M.L.I.
Wilson, James Boyle, A.B (R.N.V.R.) Wilson, Percy James, A.B. Wilson, Ralph Henry Chas.. Boy 1.
Wilson, Robert Henry. E.R A 5 Wilson, William. Henry, Sto. 1. Winchester. Marshall James. Boy 1.
Wingham. George Cecil, A.B. Winkworth. Arthur Garfield. A B Wisewell, Walter Harry A.B.
Wishart, Henry Albert. Sto. 1. Withers, Archie, Sto. 1. Wood, Albert Edward. A.B.
Wood. Fredk. Chas., A.B. Wood, John William, Sto. R.N.R. Wood, Joseph, Sto. 1.
Wooller, Thomas Cameron, A.B Wormleighton, Sidney Charles, A.B. (R.N.V.R.) Worsfold. Fredk. John. Wireman 2.
Wragg, Thos., Sto. 1. Wren, Frank. Sto. P.O. Wren, John Wm., A.B. (R.N.V.R.)
Wright. Clarence Leonard. A.B. Wright, Edward Wm., P.O. Wyatt. Denis, A.B.
Yeates, Eric John, A.B. Young, Charles, Sto. P.O. Young, Charles Wakem, Shipw. 2.
Young, Leonard, Boy 1.

The Verdicts -(Jutland)

Rudyard Kipling

Not in the thick of the fight,
Not in the press of the odds,
Do the heroes come to their height,
Or we know the demi-gods.

They are too near to be great,
But our children shall understand
When and how our fate
Was changed, and by whose hand.

Our children shall measure their worth.
We are content to be blind . . .
But we know that we walk on a new-born earth
With the saviours of mankind.

The Battle of Jutland was fought over 36 hours – from 31 May to 1 June 1916 • There were a total of 250 ships in the battle; 151 British Grand Fleet and 99 German High Seas Fleet • There were 100,000 sailors overall engaged in the Battle, of which 1 in 10 were wounded • More than 8,500 were killed in total; 6,000 British, 2,500 German • Death was sudden and on a huge scale – Queen Mary 1,266, Indefatigable 1,017, Invincible 1,026, Defence 903, Black Prince 857 (German: Wiesbaden 589, Fraulenlob 320) • One thousand men lost their lives when a magazine exploded on the British battlecruiser Indefatigable • The British Grand Fleet was under the command of Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, who after the war became one of the founders of The Royal British Legion • There was no clear winner in this battle, but it did convince the Germans never again to challenge the British Navy in the North Sea • This was the first time in history that a carrier-based aeroplane (from HMS Engadine) was used for reconnaissance in naval combat • There were four Victoria Crosses awarded after the Battle, one for Jutland Jack

Roma White is the pen name of an author called Blanche Oram, later Mrs Winder. Ancestry shows she was born about 1866, she was from London, and the 1911 census shows her living in Gastang (Lancashire)

News of Jutland

Roma White

On June 3, 1916, when the news of our sad losses in our first great naval battle off the Jutland Bank had just come to hand, I went fishing with a sailor on the Naval Reserve. The following lines are, almost word for word, a transcript of his talk.

The news had flashed throughout the land,
The night had dropped in dread –
What would the morrow’s sunrise tell
Of England’s mighty dead?
What homes were wrecked? What hearts were doomed
To bleed in sorrow’s school!

At early morn I sought my friend,
The fisherman of Poole.

He waited there beside the steps:
The boat rocked just below:
“You’re ready, m’m? The morning’s fine!
I thought as how you’d go!
I dug the bait an hour agone –
We calls ’em ‘lug-worms’ here.
The news is grave? Aye, so I’ve heard!
Step in! Your skirt is clear.

“My brothers? Any news, you ask?
No, m’m! Nor like to be
A fortnight yet! Maybe they’re both
Asleep beneath the sea!
I saw’ em start two years agone
Next August – and I says
We’ll see ’em back by Christmas time –
But we don’t know God’s ways!

“I’ll pull her round the fishing-boats!
The Polly’s lying there!
D’you see her, m’m? The prettiest smack
For weather foul or fair!
It’s just the ways they’ve builded her
As seems to make her feel
Alive! She’s fifty sovereigns’ worth
O’ lead along her keel.

“Fine men my brothers war – I’ll tie
Her up against this boom!
Don’t fear to move free! This here boat
Is built with lots o’ room!
You’re safe with Jacob Matthews, m’m!
He’s ne’er been called a fool
By any of the fisher-folk
As lives in little Poole!

“How many left? Well, maybe half;
They’ve gone off one by one.
It’s likely I’ll be gone myself
Afore the war is done.
Attested just a month agone,
And passed for fit and sound –
It’s shallow here for flat-fish, m’m,
The boat’s well-nigh aground.

“I’ll throw your line out – that’ll do!
Aye, fights on sea are grave!
There ain’t no Red Cross people there
To lift you off the wave!
There ain’t no ‘cover’ you can take,
No places to lie down!
You got to go – wi’ red-hot shells
Just helping you to drown!

“It minds me of a night we men
Had got the life-boat out.
They’d ‘phoned us up! And off we pulled
With many a cheer and shout!
We rowed her hard up to the wind,
And clear the moonlight shone –
But when we reached – you see, just there –
Both ship and crew were gone!

“We cruised around for half an hour!
Ah, m’m, our hearts was sore!
We’d looked to throw the line to them,
And bring’ em safe to shore!
Aye! these blue waves ha’ swallowed up
More finer men than me!
But we’ve been always fisher-folk,
And we can’t fear the sea!

“Why, there’s a catch! Aye, pull it in!
‘Tis on your second hook!
Well, that’s as odd a little fish
As e’er a line ha’ took!
I’ve ne’er seen nothing like it, m’m –
Don’t touch it wi’ your hand –
These strange ‘uns prick like poison, m’m,
Sometimes – you understand?

“I’ll take it off! It won’t hurt me!
You wonder what it’s called?
I couldn’t say! The rummest thing
That ever yet was hauled!
A farthing’s worth o’ queerness, m’m,
I’d name it if ’twas priced!
A young John Dory? No – they bears
The marks o’ Jesus Christ.

“You’ll see His fingers and His thumb!
Where are they? Well, a bit
Beyond the gills – look! Here’s the place,
Just where I’m holding it!
So this ain’t no John Dory, m’m!
I’ll put it safe away!
You’ll tell your friends you pulled it from
The bottom o’ Poole Bay!

“‘Twas better than a submarine?
There ain’t such devils here!
We’ve got the North Sea trawlers down,
They keeps the harbour clear!
You saw a heap o’ tangled wire
A-lyin’ on the quay?
And thought as they’d just hauled it up?
Aye, m’m! That’s how ‘twould be.

“We’re what they calls a’ Naval Base,
Since this here war abroke!
You seen it up? Aye, yonder there!
‘Tis hard for fisher-folk!
We gets our catches in the night!
But we mayn’t leave the Bay
Save when the sun is on the sea –
You don’t catch much by day!

“But we’ve our bit to bear, as much
As richer men nor we.
We got to get a ‘permit’ now
To take our nets to sea.
We starts at dawn – if tides is right –
And, when the sun be gone,
Unless we lie inside the booms
We’d like be fired upon!

“You want to see the mack’rel shoals?
They come in black as – see –
Yon house that’s tarred from roof to floor
Just there, beside the quay!
My smack’s up now by Christchurch steps,
I’ve got my ‘permit’ signed!
I’ll take you out o’ Thursday next
If so be you’ve a mind?

I shan’t be gone? Not yet! I waits
Until I gets the call! –
If you’ll come out, m’m, with the nets,
I’ll promise you a haul!
You’re safe with Jacob Matthews, m’m!
He’s ne’er been called a fool
By any of the fisher-folk
The war has left in Poole!”

Nick Hewitt

The First World War was a war of machines – of tanks, machine guns and quick-firing artillery – but the most extraordinary technological behemoths emerging from Europe’s workshops fought at sea. Dreadnought battleships were the apogee of early 20th-century industrial capability. They were the most complicated, extravagantly expensive assets nations possessed and the benchmark for their prestige. Each ship was a bewildering agglomeration of mammoth rifled guns, pitching shells the weight of car engines across miles of ocean, and turbine engines driving 30,000-ton ships at speeds approaching 30mph, protected by steel armour belts up to 13in thick.

When Kaiser Wilhelm II ordered a massive expansion of his Imperial German Navy, the British responded by launching the battleship HMS Dreadnought. It was faster, with better armour and more big guns, than anything else afloat. Dreadnought reset the escalating arms race, a decision born out of confidence that Britain could outbuild Germany. The British also developed “battlecruisers”, new ships with heavy guns but light armour and exceptional speed. When Britain declared war on August 4, 1914, the Grand Fleet had nearly twice as many heavy ships as Germany’s High Seas Fleet.
For two years, the Kaiser hamstrung his commanders with orders not to endanger his expensive fleet and the British had no means of forcing the Germans to fight, although their trade blockade would eventually prove a devastating weapon. All the British commander-in-chief, Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, needed to ensure victory was patience, but it was a frustrating business.
In January 1916, Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer took over the German Fleet. Hoping to goad the British into a mistake, Scheer obtained the Kaiser’s approval for his battlecruisers, commanded by Rear-Admiral Franz von Hipper, to bombard Sunderland.
Scheer expected Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty to engage them with his battlecruiser fleet from Rosyth, to be joined later by Jellicoe from Scapa Flow. German submarines would ambush the British fleets, and Hipper would lure Beatty towards the High Seas Fleet. Destroying Beatty first would give the Germans the equality in numbers they needed to win. When the weather worsened, Scheer simplified his plan, ordering Hipper to threaten British convoys to Norway.
British codebreakers had already detected the German sortie and the Grand Fleet had sailed, but the intelligence was misreported. So though Jellicoe and Beatty were at sea, neither expected a battle when the two battlecruiser forces sighted each other at 2.28pm on May 31, 1916, beginning the Battle of Jutland, named after the nearest land mass. Hipper reversed course to lead Beatty towards the High Seas Fleet, and both sides opened fire. The British were silhouetted against the western horizon, smoke obscured the German ships, and British gunnery was dreadful, so the Germans inflicted early blows. A shell penetrated a gun turret aboard HMS Lion, Beatty’s flagship, causing a fire in the magazine below which could have destroyed the ship, had the compartment not been flooded, drowning all inside.
Moments later, a shell sliced into HMS Indefatigable’s forward turret. No one had closed the magazine doors and the ship blew up in a catastrophic explosion, killing all but two of 1,019 men aboard. Shortly afterwards, HMS Queen Mary exploded, taking with her nearly 1,300 men and prompting Beatty to growl “there seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today”.
As Beatty pursued Hipper south, the German battlecruisers came under heavy fire from Beatty’s four 15in-gunned “superdreadnoughts”, until at 4.33pm the British spotted Scheer’s High Seas Fleet. Beatty turned away, hoping to lure the Germans back north to Jellicoe, who was steaming towards him, wishing “someone would tell me who is firing and what they are firing at”. The confusion was deepened by Rear-Admiral Horace Hood, who led his three battlecruisers and their escorting ships towards the enemy. As Hood pushed forward, the light cruiser HMS Chester was repeatedly hit, and Jack Cornwell, 16, was horrifically wounded. He died after the battle, and became the youngest recipient of the Victoria Cross.
Finally, at 6.14pm, Jellicoe received a signal from Beatty and ordered his ships into a battle line as the mist cleared, exposing Hood’s battlecruisers to overwhelming German fire. A shell hit one of HMS Invincible’s turrets. Again, the flash raced into the magazines and she vanished in a huge explosion.
Despite this, after just a few minutes’ combat, Scheer realised that he could not defeat the entire Grand Fleet, reversed his line and disappeared into the mist. Twenty minutes later, the Germans briefly reappeared. Realising his mistake and desperate to buy time for another turn, Scheer sent Hipper’s badly damaged battlecruisers to attack the British. They were barely afloat, but the plan worked and the German fleet slipped into the gloom. The night saw a series of bloody skirmishes, but Scheer got home and on June 5, the Kaiser proclaimed that “the spell of Trafalgar has been broken”. The Grand Fleet’s return was more subdued and the London newspapers lamented a “great naval disaster”. The British lost more ships and many more men – 6,094 compared with 2,551 Germans. But the Grand Fleet was ready for action again the next day. Many German ships were so badly damaged they were out of action until October and the Germans never mounted another serious challenge. Jutland was not Trafalgar, but as one American journalist remarked, “the German fleet has assaulted its jailor, but is still in jail”.

For Those in Peril on the Sea

William Whiting

Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm doth bind the restless wave,
Who bidd’st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
O hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

O Saviour, Whose almighty word
The winds and waves submissive heard,
Who walkedst on the foaming deep,
And calm amid its rage didst sleep:
O hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea!

O Sacred Spirit, who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
Who bad’st its angry tumult cease,
And gavest light, and life, and peace:
O hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea!

O Trinity of love and power,
Our brethren shield in danger’s hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect them wheresoe’er they go;
And ever let there rise to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.