Royal Navy WW1?

[Lenore]

Hello folks,

I'm trying to establish whether or not my mother's uncle served in the RN during WW1. It's a bit of a struggle.

We have a photo of Douglas James Blay EYNON in a nice white sailor suit with "HMS Pembroke" on the hat ribbon, on the back of which he sends greetings from Egypt. A bit of googling around suggests that HMS Pembroke was a RN shore training establishment, (or could there have been another ship of that name?)

We have the testimony of my mother. She says that "Jim" went the Dardanelles during the war. She thought the ship might have been the Mariposa. She also tells the story that he missed his ship somewhere or other, and was given the choice of being shot, or serving out the war in a mine sweeper. He was on a ship which was torpedoed. She has also mentioned the ship Mopsa (when she said Mariposa tonight, she may have been thinking of the Mopsa which she has told me in the past). The Mopsa turns out to be a cargo ship which struck a mine and was beached in 1916.

I'm struggling to make anything out of all that. He does not appear in TNA indexes for naval service, nor in the medals index.

Back in Melbourne he was listed in the 1914 Electoral Roll, and he also appeared in the 1919 Electoral Roll, which means if he was in the navy or any naval service, he wasn't in it for long. Can he have joined the RN in Melbourne? I don't know anything at all about the RN.

He does not appear in RAN records. If it wasn't for the HMS Pembroke uniform photo, I'd hazard a guess he was in the Merchant Navy.

Does anyone have any thoughts on what it might mean?

Best wishes,

Lenore

[Neil Wilson]

HAve you seen this site for information where records are held?
www.
mariners-l.co.uk/UKRNPersonnel.html

[Lenore]

HAve you seen this site for information where records are held?
www.
mariners-l.co.uk/UKRNPersonnel.html

No I hadn't, thanks for the link.

Best wishes,

Lenore

[Lenore]

Hi Graham,

Don't worry, I am *very* alert to the possibility of embellishment, but on the other hand, I do have the photo.

I've put the photo, with its reverse, on my website https://empirecall.pbworks.com/w/page...on%20D%20J%20B

I'm taking this to be a genuine RN uniform. Could it have been taken in England before shipping out, and he posted it while he was in Egypt?

Late last night I was sifting through some old files and I found a letter I had written to a descendant of Jim after I had got some details from my mother - back in 1992, so what she remembered then is a lot better than what she remembered a couple of days ago. What she said then was that Jim was in the Australian Merchant Navy before the war, but was in England when war broke out and he joined the RN. (The timing might be a bit suspect, because he was in the Electoral Roll in 1914 in his mother's house - but I suppose that might failure to have his name removed from the roll.) He was born in 1890 in Melbourne, and would have been about 24 in 1914.

Two days ago Mum said Jim had been in the Dardanelles, but I can't remember her having said that in the past, nor was it included in the letter I wrote to the relative - and I had just interviewed her on his behalf. I do recall her mentioning the ship Mopsa years ago (and it is not the sort of name you'd make up!) She mentioned that he had been on a ship which had been either mined or torpedoed, and as we know the Mopsa took a hit in 1916, that might have been the one, and he might have joined the RN later? He could have been at the Dardanelles I suppose at any time in his sea career, not necessarily in 1915. Or he had been on the Mopsa in the past, and was mined on a RN ship. The permutations are endless.

If a ship was heading off to the tropics, would they have been issued with their tropical kit before leaving dock, so that the photo was taken well before Egypt?

Mum said back in 1992 that Jim had missed his ship and was given the option of being charged with desertion or volunteering for duty on a mine sweeper. They were having difficulties getting volunteers for mine-sweepers. I'll bet that is close to the truth.

Does any of it make more sense now?

Best wishes,

Lenore

[Lenore]

Like you I've been unable to find any record of the man on TNA's website. What was his history before the war? Was he actually British or was he Australian born?

We were ALL British until the 1950s! But he was indeed Australian born. (I must find out the date and see whether I spent any time being British!)

[Lenore]

We were ALL British until the 1950s! But he was indeed Australian born. (I must find out the date and see whether I spent any time being British!)

The salient date was 1949 when Australian Citizenship, as distinct from British, came into being, so I completely missed out on being British. Hmm. I must tell my husband he was British when he was born. He'll probably be surprised.

[peter nicholl]

Just a thought. It's a studio shot, he's in white Tropics, he was in Egypt, his cap tally says HMS Pembroke. So, the thought is "if he served on a minesweeper would the crew of said vessel have cap tallies for that minesweeper?" Mines were a constant threat in the Dardenelles, see the loss of HMS Irresistible and HMS Ocean. Trawlers were used as minesweepers.

[Lenore]

Hi Peter,

Those are useful thoughts - naturally I don't know the answer, but I hope someone does. I've been following through the links on the page that Neil provided earlier, and I have come upon a reference to pensions for "Merchant Seamen in Admiralty Employ", which comments about "crews of mercantile ships commissioned as HM ships". It strikes me that this might be the route by which Jim came to be in the RN. (And then he missed his ship and ended up on a mine trawler?). So what type of uniform/cap tallies, if anything, were provided for these men of the merchant service?

Of course, not only don't I know anything about the RN, I also don't know anything about the Merchant Navy (sigh). Back to trawling for me.

Thanks to everyone for taking an interest in my little problem.


Best wishes,

Lenore

[peter nicholl]

I've just come across the following snippet:
" In December 1914 the Admiral of Patrols issued an order prohibiting the wearing of cap ribbons ashore and in June 1915 men proceeding on leave from battleships, battlecruises, cruisers and light cruisers refitting were ordered to wear cap ribbons of their depots and not of their ship"

[Lenore]

I've just come across the following snippet:
" In December 1914 the Admiral of Patrols issued an order prohibiting the wearing of cap ribbons ashore and in June 1915 men proceeding on leave from battleships, battlecruises, cruisers and light cruisers refitting were ordered to wear cap ribbons of their depots and not of their ship"

Ah! Brilliant, well spotted. The story begins to take on a bit of shape.. Thank you very much for that.

Best wishes,

Lenore