Confused CWGC entry

[daggers]

I am studying details of those commemorated as war victims in the public cemetery at Allerton, Liverpool. I found the following entry among other named family members on one private memorial. The relevant part reads:

--

ALSO OF FRED HODGSON, R.N.

SON OF THE ABOVE

WHO LOST HIS LIFE THROUGH THE SINKING

OF H.M.S.MIGNONETTE BY A GERMAN MINE

OFF THE IRISH COAST 17TH MARCH 1917

AGED 36 YEARS

---

I have a photograph of the memorial showing the detail as above.

On checking the details on the CWGC Debt of Honour Register, I could not find this Hodgson, but found the following:

“HODSON, FRED, Stoker 1st Class, Royal Navy, (RFR/CH/B/8341). H.M.S. "Mignonette.", 17/03/1917, 294199, (Served as JOHNSON)., 24.

CHATHAM NAVAL MEMORIAL”

I then checked the website: http://www.naval-history.net/index.htm (which I recognise is not an official document), but which seems to indicate that there may be some confusion in the Debt of Honour Register entry and that the records for two sailors may have become merged:

'HODSON, Fred, Stoker 1c (RFR B 8341), 294199 (Ch), Mignonette, 17 March 1917, ship lost'

'HODSON, Jesse (real name, but served as Frederick Johnson), Stoker 1c, K 4892 (Ch), Princess Irene, 27 May 1915, ship lost.'

The record of seaman’s service downloaded from Documents Online for the Liverpool-born Fred Hodson shows his service ended d/d 1917 with the sinking of Mignonette, and the index to the same series shows Jesse Hodson, alias Frederick Johnson K4892 was born in Hull, was lost in HMS Princess Irene in May 1915 and is clearly a different person.

While the family headstone spells all the surnames as 'HodGson', the naval record sheet for Fred and CWGC both use HODSON, which may derive from faulty recording when this sailor first signed on.

I would welcome advice on how to proceed with this as a possible semi-cold case.

Daggers

[Arnhem44]

Hi Daggers,I can't help with your search but here's a photo of the ship before she sunk.One of her guns is displayed locally also.

Regards

Brendan

[daggers]

Brendan

Thanks for that - a sad sight.

D

[Piorun]

Get hold of In From The Cold.

[daggers]

I have now found the IFTC site and posted there, too with full hope of help.

Thanks

D

EDITED

Thanks to IFTC and Terry Denham of this parish, the discrepancy over the curious Hodson entry in CWGC is being corrected.

Daggers