One from the collection: In Memoriam Pt Leonard Lane King, Died August 13 1915

Pt Leonard Lane King:
13th Attached 2nd Hants Regiment
Enlisted Sept 3rd 1914
Lost with the "Royal Edward" Aug 13th 1915

Over the weekend, I stayed with my friend Svitlana Gunning  at her lovely home in the country while her husband Christophher (http://www.christopher-gunning.co.uk/) the talented composer, was away in America on tour. Svita asked me to help her sort through some old family stuff that had been removed from a relatives house when she died, to see what I thought about disposal of certain items. One of the things that she showed me was the document that this posting is about.

I have known Svita for many years, having started an Access to Art Course together. (Whereas my interests lay in printing, having studied glass art {http://www.flux10.co.uk/SvitlanaGunning.html}, she is now designing and making her own line of silver jewellery, incorporating her skills and knowledge of glass manipulation). Knowing my interest in the First World War, she believed that I would do the right thing with such a sensitive document, and know how to dispose of it appropriately. This had left me in a bit of a quandary, however, as will become self evident later on in this posting, one that I believe I have sufficiently been able to resolve.

The Royal Hampshire Regimental Journal Vol X, 1915

The document itself is a rather unassuming book that would only be of interest to a small minority of people (including myself), and would not normally merit a second glance. It is entitled 'The Hampshire Regimental Journal: Vol X, 1915, and of course I drooled just seeing the cover! Imagine my surprise when I opened it and saw the flyleaf. I almost passed out, and was stunned that anyone would want to part with it!

The interior flyleaf of 'The Regimental Journal.'

Apparently, the man in question was only related to Christopher and Svitlana by Marriage, and so it was deemed appropriate to dispose of it sensitively, and with the fact that I have a little experience in dealing with items with connections to war, I was given the task. (I have felt the need to explain all of this so that it was understood that in disposing of the book, it was not a decision taken lightly or without any soul-searching). 

Unfortunately, because it is from a relative by marriage, nothing is known of the young man that the inscription commemorates, so I cannot share any personal details about him or his family with you. However, gleaning a little from the information given, what I can do is to share with you the bit of research that I have done today, and finally tell you what decision that I have come to about it's disposal.

As can be seen in the above photograph, there is mention of 'The Royal Edward,' that he was in the Hampshire Regiment, and the date that he died. If you look carefully at the photograph, you may see, written in pencil on the bottom right-hand corner the pencil note saying 'see page 315,' so this is where I started.

Page 314 & 315 from 'The Journal,' listing L King (circled in red) as 'Missing, believed drowned, off Royal Edward.'

Page 315 with the listing circled in red

The photographs above and below, confirmed what I had already suspected, that the 'Royal Edward' was a troop ship. 

Close up of the listing on page 315

Close up of the listing title on page 314 of 'The Journal.'

As well as being fascinating to me, I am also humbled and moved by artefacts such as this. The pain is almost palpable in the memorial inscription. I have no idea if the poem is one that was known, or if a member of the family wrote it for him, but I get the sense that, in their grief, they are trying to resolve that there was purpose in his death, that he died for a noble cause:

In Memoriam

Eternal Honour to his name,

God grant eternal rest.

Who died to save his land from shame

Is surely with the blessed!

We who have known and loved him well,

Can quench our grief with pride

 That 'twas for Englands sake he fell,

For Englands honour died.

I note that he served for just under one year, and from his photograph one would be lead to believe that he could only have been in his late teens or maybe very early 20's. What a sad loss of such a young life. Like many of his generation, he was not to 'grow old, as we grow old.' I am glad that I am able to remember him here, and share some of the facts that I have gleaned with you.

Map of Turkish forces at Gallipoli April 1915

As I stated earlier, the Royal Edward was a troop ship, who on the 13th of August 1915 was carrying troops and cargo for the Gallipoli Campaign in Turkey. She was torpedoed by the German Submarine U-14, becoming the first ship sunk in the First World War.

Panoramic view of the Dardanelles fleet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallipoli_Campaign) 

(For those interested in the Gallipoli Campaign specifically, the link below the picture above will take you to the relevant page in Wikipedia).

Originally named the “Cairo”, the 11,117 ton vessel was built in 1890, at Govan, Scotland for the Egyptian Mail Steamship Co. In 1910 she was purchased, along with her sister ship, the “Heliopolis”, by Canadian Northern Steamships Ltd and they were renamed “Royal Edward” and “Royal George” respectively. The Company employed her on the Avonmouth – Quebec – Montreal route in the summer and Halifax in the winter. On the 8th April 1912 she encountered and reported an ice field in the vicinity of the area in which the RMS “Titanic” sank four days later.

With the start of the War in 1914, both ships were pressed into service as Troop Transports, initially the “Royal Edward” brought Canadian troops over to Britain. She was then anchored in Southend and used for some months to hold enemy aliens, after which she was again put into use as a troopship...

According to Sam Brayfield’s service record they embarked on HMT “Royal Edward” at Devonport on the 30th July 1915, other sources say that it left Avonmouth on the 28th July, although it is possible that it left Avonmouth and stopped in Devonport. Commanded by Commander P. M. Watton, RNR, she was mainly carrying reinforcements for the 29th Division and numbers of RAMC personnel. It was a rough trip down to Gibraltar, but once in the Mediterranean conditions improved, with the troops getting involved in playing games. They arrived in Alexandria on the 11th of August and sailed for Gallipoli the next day. The “Royal George” was sailing a day ahead of the “Royal Edward” with men of the 4th Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment on board also bound for Gallipoli. 

The SS Royal Edward

On the 13th of August the U14 left Bodrum and headed out to the known shipping route that troopships sailing between Alexandria and the Dardanelles used. It had a crew of 14 Commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Heino von Heimburg and was around 90 feet long and a little under 10 feet wide. The submarine had been transported over land from Bremen in Germany. Their first sighting was the “Soudan”, a British Hospital ship which they did not attack. She then spotted the “Royal Edward” which was steaming unescorted towards Mudros and closed to within a mile and at 0915 fired one torpedo, which struck the “Royal Edward” in the stern. She sank, bow up, within six minutes leaving the surface of the sea covered in wreckage and men. Just prior to the attack a lifeboat drill had been carried out and it was whilst the men were  below decks restowing their kit that the attack was made, a fact that probably contributed to the high loss of life. 

Image of the U-14 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:U-14_(WW1).jpg)

The survivors were picked up by the “Soudan”, two French destroyers and some trawlers. The U14 did not stay on to harass the rescue effort, but headed back to Bodrum with some technical problems. 

In a letter to his mother, Mrs Hall, posted in Port Said and printed in the Kettering leader of 17th September 1915, Pte Hall described the sinking and his rescue. “I had a terrible experience, she sank in four minutes. I stayed on the ship till the water came up to the second deck and then I jumped into the sea. When she finally sank we were all drawn under by the suction and I thought  I was never coming up again. But at last I did and saw a sight that I shall never forget. All sign of the ship was gone, but the sea was covered with wreckage and men yelling like mad. As soon as I came up I grabbed hold of a door that came floating by. I lay on this for about half an hour, when I was picked up by one of the ships collapseable boats that had got off somehow. We were in this boat about 3 ½ hours, when we were picked up by a Hospital Ship. Poor old Sam and Percy (Pte’s Brayfield and Watson) are missing. I didn’t see a sign of either of them after the ship was torpedoed.” He was especially close to Pte Brayfield, as they had been friends for a long time and he said that he felt “like he had lost a brother”. 

U-14

He went on to say that the Hospital Ship, which was possibly the “Soudan”, landed them at Alexandria on the 15th August, where they were put in tents and waited around. From there the Medics were sent to Port Said where they were put to work in a convalescent hospital, the men had been told that they had done their bit and would not be sent on to the Dardanelles.

In a later issue of the paper on the 9th of September there is a photograph of a group of RAMC men, including Pte Hall, saying that they were part of the staff of a convalescent hospital and that all were survivors of the ‘Royal Edward’ and “had quite recovered from the unnerving experiences through which they had passed”. 

The sinking of the “Royal Edward” highlighted the fact that troopships and merchantmen were operating unprotected and were vulnerable to attack. Of the 1,586 troops and crew on board there were less than 500 survivors. The Times, in an article reporting the sinking, says that the Admiralty has around one-fifth of the total British mercantile tonnage under charter and that considering the number of ships that this involves, ‘all who grasp the magnitude of our transport operations may well marvel that we have hitherto been spared such a disaster.’ The sinking of the “Royal Edward” highlighted this vulnerability and measures were taken to afford more protection to the Mercantile fleet.

Others who were on The Royal Edward (See: http://www.burnleyinthegreatwar.info/royaledwardbook.htm for more information)

Harry Hall survived the war and in 1918 was an acting Corporal still in the RAMC. Pte Spicer also survived the war.

Pte Brayfield and Pte Watson are remembered on the Helles Memorial in Turkey, along with the other men who went down with the “Royal Edward”. The Memorial stands 30 metres tall and is located on the tip of the Gallipoli Peninsular and can be seen by ships passing through the Dardanelles. 

Pte Brayfield’s mother died in 1916 and on her grave in St Peters Churchyard Raunds, there is a short Memorial to her son.

(Source: http://www.raundswarmemorials.org/4946/11526.html)

(For readers who would like to know more about submarine warfare, I have come across this fascinating blog: http://historyjournal.org/2012/08/28/u-boats-in-world-war-i/, and this website: http://cstl-csm.semo.edu/coleman/webquests/ww2/ww2.html)

It was reported that nearly 1000 men were lost on the Royal Edward, 211 of them from the Hampshire Regiment. This was a tragedy that must have shaken Britain and the Armed forces to the core, back in 1915. I have found a book written specifically about the disaster, and it's effect on the small Lancashire community of Burnley. Here is a small excerpt:

“During the weekend the War Office issued a list of the rank and file missing and believed to have drowned as the result of the torpedoing of the transport the Royal Edward. The total missing is given as 851men. Among the regiments which suffered the greatest losses were:-
Hampshire Regiment 2nd Battalion 211 
Essex Regiment 1st Battalion 175
Army Service Corps 123
R.A.M.C. (E. Anglian Casualty Clearing Station) 55
R.A.M.C. (2nd East Lancashire Field Ambulance) 35
Border Regiment 59
King's Own Scottish Borderers 1st Battalion 58
South Wales Borderers 2nd Battalion 56
Lancashire Fusiliers 1st Battalion 27

(Source: http://www.burnleyinthegreatwar.info/royaledwardbook.htm.)

Above are photocopies of correspondence with the War Office in London regarding the fate of Pt King. I have no idea who the lady is that is enquiring, I presume that she is either a married sister, aunt, or possibly his maternal grandmother.

The tragedy that I first became aware of through a memorial inscription for one young man has turned out to be a catastrophe beyond comprehension. The thought that the pain and grief expressed in 'The Journal' was (to excuse the nautical pun) the tip of the iceberg. The monumental suffering of these families, waiting weeks for news and then have no grave to grieve over, must have been devastating. However, in hindsight, with the brutality of the Gallipoli Campaign, perhaps it was a better way to die, who can tell?

Further to the research that I did into the sinking of the 'Royal Edward,' I found out that the Hampshire Regiment is now incorporated within the 'Prince of Wales Royal Regiment.' However, there is a Royal Hampshire Regiment Memorial Garden and Museum at Serle's House in Hampshire (http://serleshouse.co.uk/index.html). I will contact Svitlana and Christopher this week, as I believe, should they want it, that the Regimental Museum would be the most appropriate home for a memorial to 'one of their own,' and think it fitting that he should be honoured and remembered by his old Regiment. As he has no real grave here, perhaps it is, in a way, bringing him home.

From the going down of the sun until the morning,

We will remember them.

'And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda,' Joan Baez

Regular readers of this blog will know how much I love the song 'And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda' which I make no apology in sharing with you here again. This time it is sung by Joan Baez, and tells the story of a young Australian man seriously wounded in the Gallipoli Campaign.

Please feel free to comment, or to ask any questions that this post may bring up with you.