Joseph Embery leading stoker 1st Class on E20

[sonicsniper]

Hi I am a new member and I am trying to find out Where did He and the other nine sailors Go to hospital and where the POW camp was in Turkey.

If anybody has any information of the survivors of E20 crew did after the war and if anybody has pictures of the crew, hospital ,POW camp.

If anybody wants the information i have you are very welcome to the files i have.

Kind Regards

[sadsac]

SONIC - have already posted in DENDY Thread. Most interested to see `what you have'.

Here details of Stoker Embery that I have ;

EMBERY JOSEPH L STO P/K 13860 NE RN 140888 011014

SC 141001 DOLPHIN

E20 161022 MAIDSTONE DOLPHIN ADAMANT

POW 150000 TURKEY

SC 190101 DOLPHIN

DEMOBILISED 3.4.19

ACT LDG STO PRISONER 6/11/15

ADDRESS 48 AUCKLAND RD., CAMP HILL, BIRMINGHAM.

ADM 188 / 894 P.o.B ; WOLVERHAMPTON STAFFS

C S EXPIRES 270319 SENIOR IN RATING 120308

Sadsac

[sonicsniper]

Leading Stoker Joseph Embery was born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire on 14th Aug 1889 (his birth was registered in the Wolverhampton Registration District in 3rd Quarter of 1889 Vol. 6B Page 557) and he was the son of John and Ann Embery (nee George) who were married in Wolverhampton in 1880. It is believed that he has three older brothers and sisters – these were John Thomas (born 1882), Mary (born 1885) and Richard (born 1888). At the time of the 1901 Census eleven year old Joseph Embery was recorded as being at home with his widowed mother at 50, Hall Street, Wolverhampton. On leaving school he was employed as a brass worker. He joined the Royal Navy as a Stoker 2nd Class at HMS NELSON (the Training Ship for Stokers) at Portsmouth on 27th March 1907 – signing on for a five year Short Service Engagement followed by a further seven years in the Fleet Reserve. He was allocated the Official Number SS 104656. For some reason his date of birth was recorded by the Royal Navy as 14th August 1888. On 17th November 1907 he was drafted to the 9,800 ton twin screw Armoured Cruiser HMS BERWICK (Captain Lewis Clinton-Baker, Royal Navy) in the Home Fleet at Portsmouth. He was rated Stoker 1st Class on 12th March 1908. On 21st August 1908
Joseph Embery was drafted ashore to HMS VICTORY I (the Royal Naval Barracks) at Portsmouth and, just over one week later on 1st September 1908 he was drafted to the 7,350 ton twin screw Protected Cruiser HMS EDGAR for
passage to South Africa to join HMS HERMES - the Flag Ship at the Cape of Good Hope. He served in HMS HERMES until 21st December 1910 for Passage home and he re-joined HMS VICTORY II on 19th January 1911. A month later
on 22nd February 1911 Joseph Embery was drafted to the 11,000 ton twin screw Protected Cruiser HMS ARIADNE (Captain Thomas L Bernardiston, Royal Navy) in the 3rd Fleet at Portsmouth. At the time of the 1911 Census on
Sunday 2nd April 1911 he was listed as a Stoker on board HMS ARIADNE which was at anchor in Stokes Bay off Portsmouth. On 12th February 1912 – a month before his Short Service Engagement was due to expire - he decided continue to serve and to transfer to a Continuous Service Engagement expiring on 27th March 1919. A draft to the 18,600 ton Battle Ship HMS SUPERB (Captain George P W Hope, Royal Navy) in the First Battle Squadron ‘on re-commissioning at Portsmouth’ followed on 6th May 1913. Joseph Embery was advanced to Acting Leading Stoker on 5th February 1914 but reverted to Stoker 1st Class on 12th May 1914. He joined Submarines on 1st October 1914 with a draft to HMS DOLPHIN ‘for Submarine Training’ and this was followed by a draft to the Submarine Depot Ship HMS MAIDSTONE (8th Submarine Flotilla) at Harwich on 28th October 1914. Joseph Embery was married to Winifred Jane Chapman in Wolverhampton and the marriage was registered in the 3rd Quarter of 1915 (Vol. 6B Page 1410). He returned to HMS DOLPHIN on 21st Jul 1915 probably to join Submarine HMS E20 – completing at the Vickers Shipyard at Barrow in Furness. Submarine E20 (Lieutenant Commander Clyfford Warren, Royal Navy) was built at Vickers at Barrow in Furness and was ‘Laid Down’ on 25th Nov 1914, Launched on 20th Jun 1915 and was ‘Commissioned’ on 30th Aug 1915. On 9th September 1915 Submarine E20 was sent to the Mediterranean to join the Special Service Flotilla based on the Submarine Depot Ship HMS ADAMANT at Mudros Harbour on the Island of Lemnos. Submarine E20 successfully made the passage through the Dardanelles 21st Oct 1915 and entered the Sea of Marmora. On 27th October 1915 E20 rendezvoused with Submarine H1 (Lieutenant Wilfrid Pirie, RN) off Panderma and, the following morning the Commanding Officer of H1 went onboard to agree a programme of events. E20 again rendezvoused with H1 on 30th October as H1 was preparing to leave the Sea of Marmara and return to Mudros on 31st October. It was then intended that E20 was to meet up with the French Submarine TURQUOISE on 6th Nov 1915. Joseph Embery was advanced to Acting Leading Stoker on 5th Nov 1915. Unfortunately, unknown to the Captain of E20, TURQUOISE had run aground whist attempting to leave the Sea of Marmora before the planned rendezvous and failed to destroy his submarine or his papers. The details of the rendezvous position (40º 45’ N 28º 10’E) were identified by the Germans and the Turks
after the TURQUOISE had run aground. These details were passed to the Commanding Officer of the German U-Boat UB-14. Whilst E20 was waiting on the surface at the rendezvous point Submarine E20 was torpedoed by UB-14. Of the crew twenty one were lost and ten survived to be taken Prisoner of War. Joseph Embery survived the sinking and was taken Prisoner of War. A note on his Service Record reads ‘Unofficially reported Prisoner of War in Turkey (List received from Red Cross Society, Geneva 16/12)’. On 1st January 1916 the administration of the E20 Prisoners of War was transferred to HMS DOLPHIN. As a Prisoner of War in Turkey he joined submarine colleagues from Submarine AE2 (three Officers & twenty nine Ratings), E15 (three Officers and twenty two Ratings), E7 (three Officers & twenty nine
Ratings and was later joined by seven Ratings from Submarine E7 in January 1918. With those from E20 (three Officers and seven Ratings) this made a total of twelve Officers and ninety five Ratings in prisons in Turkey. Of these one Officer was released early, one Officer escaped and one Officer and seventeen Ratings died in captivity. The Officers were mainly held in prison at either Constantinople (now Istanbul) or at Afion Kara Hissar. The Ratings were variously held in prisons and work camps all over Turkey including Belemedik, Afion Kara Hissar, Bor, Bozanti, Castelmouni and many
were made to work from smaller camps on railway and railway tunnel construction. Joseph Embery was released from captivity after the Armistice with Turkey at the end of October 1918. The released Prisoners of War returned home safely by a variety of routes but some took several weeks to arrive. On arrival Joseph Embery was taken on to the books of HMS PRESIDENT on 14th Nov 1918. He returned to Submarines on 1st January 1919 when he re-joined HMS DOLPHIN where he was confirmed in the Rate of Leading Stoker on 1st April 1919. He was demobilized on 1st May 1919 and transferred to the Royal Fleet Reserve with a new Official Number of RFR/Po/B/9565. They had a daughter – Josephine Embery was born to Joseph and Winifred Embery in the 2nd Quarter of 1916(Wolverhampton Vol. 6B Page 1075). Unfortunately Josephine passed away at 30 Months of age, whilst Joseph was a Prisoner of War. They had more children – Ronald in 1919,Derrick in 1921, Winifred in 1923 and Roger in 1926.

As there was Very little work in Birmingham in the 1920's. In 1928 Joseph decided to travel to London to find work and a home for the family. While he was on the train to London Joseph met and talked to two gentle men. By the time they had reached London Joseph was offered a job and also a flat in south Kensington. Joseph worked as a porter for The Pullman Railway Company, to which he rose to Head waiter. Joseph & Winifred and family returned to Birmingham in 1937. They moved to a house in Davey Road, Handsworth, Birmingham never moved again. When WW2 broke out Joseph worked for the war office and Government, where he travelled to all the munitions factories checking Firearms also bullets of different makes and sizes ( his job was kept secret and very few people knew what he did). He passed away of pneumonia in Dudley road Hospital, Birmingham, Warwickshire in the March 1943 at the age of fifty three (Vol 6D Page 624).

Sonic

[Guest hundon]

Fascinated to read about Joseph Embery. Especially:

"...Joseph Embery was drafted ashore to HMS VICTORY I (the Royal Naval Barracks) at Portsmouth and, just over one week later on 1st September 1908 he was drafted to the 7,350 ton twin screw Protected Cruiser HMS EDGAR for
passage to South Africa to join HMS HERMES - the Flag Ship at the Cape of Good Hope. He served in HMS HERMES until 21st December 1910 for Passage home and he re-joined HMSVICTORY II on 19th January 1911. A month later...."

My grandfather Alfred Thomas Kingston Leclercq (alias Noel) did exactly the same. By this time he was a stoker first class. He seems to have been a rogue and spent several periods in the cells. On his return to Portsmouth he ran away twice, was recaptured and sentenced to 90 days. After this he was discharged SNLR (service no longer required).

Before joining the navy he served in the army (South Lancashires) - he enlisted as a band boy aged 12 in 1892 and went on to serve in the Boer war. After discharge from the navy he re-enlisted in the army in 1914 (using his alias of Alfred Noel) and served in WWI before being discharged 'unfit' in 1916. The Noel name stuck and it is the name I now have..

[sonicsniper]

Hi hundon Sorry for the very long delay but not been well.

That is great news and thank you for sharing information. I will up date my files

Kind Regards

Sonic

Gone but not forgotten.