Canteen Steward Wilfred John Townrow, Mercantile Marine Reserve, Service N° 682566 – H.M.S India

[George Millar]

Although there have been several topics on the forum regarding HMS India and it’s survivors this topic is about a sailor who perished when she was sunk.

Wilfred John Townrow or to give him his full name Wilfred John James Townrow was born in the fourth quarter of 1867 in Forrest Gate, West Ham, Essex, England, one of 5 children born to parents James Townrow & Maria Jane Theed having 1 brother Henry Theed Townrow born 1879 and 3 sisters, Gertrude born 1874, Henrietta Elizabeth born 1877 and Jessy Maria born 1884.  According to the marriage records, James & Maria Jane only married in the fourth quarter of 1876 so it is more than likely that Wilfred & his sister Gertrude were illegitimate.

Not much is known about Wilfred’s early life until the 1881 England census when the family were living at N° 65 Colegrave Road in Stratford, West Ham, Essex. Wilfred’s father James was working as an “Engine Smith” and Wilfred was listed as a “Scholar” in the census. However, not long after this Wilfred’s father James died on the 19th April 1889 at the age of 46 years old. The family were then living at N° 59 Keogh Road in Stratford, West Ham, Essex when he died.

By the 1891 England census Maria Jane was living with her daughters Henrietta & Jessy Maria at N° 10 Colegrave Road in Stratford and was working as a “Dressmaker” to make ends meet. Wilfred isn’t listed at this address and no record can be found for him in the 1891 census. Gertrude was working as a “Domestic Servant” for Ann P Gillingham & daughter Mary A Gillingham still in the Stratford area of West Ham. Wilfred’s brother Henry Theed was put into the Stockwell Orphanage in Clapham Road, London.

However, by the time of the 1901 England census things had taken a turn for the worst and Maria Jane was admitted to the London County Lunatic Asylum. Her daughter had also been admitted to the County Lunatic Asylum in South Weald.

As regards Wilfred John, he married Phoebe Jeanette (Minnie) Wells in the third quarter of 1888, the marriage being registered in West Ham, Essex. It is not known if Wilfred John was already serving in the Merchant Navy at this time. After their marriage, Minnie gave birth to their first child, a son who they named Wilfred James Townrow born on the 24th May 1890 in West Ham, Essex. I cannot find a record for the family in the 1891 England census and the next information on them is when Minnie gives birth to two further children, Alice Mable Townrow in 1894 and Evelyn Gladys in 1897.

In the 1901 England census Minnie was living in Gravesend, Kent with her children but Wilfred is not listed in the census so it is assumed that he was at sea serving with the Merchant Navy. Minnie then gave birth to their fourth child, another daughter Hilda May, born in 1902. By the time of the 1911 England census, the family were now living at N° 46 Havelock Road in Gravesend, Kent and Wilfred (listed as John in the census) was listed as a “Ships Steward” with the P & O Company.

The next information on Wilfred John is in December 1914 when he is listed as a crew member (a Barman) serving onboard S.S India (Official N° 105572). He is listed as J Townrow aged 48 in the Ship’s Agreement and his address is given as N° 46 Havelock Road in Gravesend.

On the 4th February 1915 the German Admiralty had made a declaration forbidding all merchant shipping traffic in British waters and opened the first wave of: "unrestricted" submarine warfare. The declaration was as follows:

“All the waters surrounding Great Britain and Ireland, including the whole of the English Channel, are hereby declared to be a war zone. From February 18th onwards every enemy merchant vessel found within this war zone will be destroyed without it always being possible to avoid danger to the crews and passengers”.

“Neutral ships will also be exposed to danger in the war zone, as, in view of the misuse of neutral flags ordered on January 31st by the British Government, and owing to unforeseen incidents to which naval warfare is liable, it is impossible to avoid attacks being made on neutral ships in mistake for those of the enemy”.

It was into this situation that Wilfred John now found himself. After WW1 was declared in July 1914, the Admiralty commandeered around half the fleet of P & O’s ships for use in the new conflict. The ships were to be either used as Merchant Navy ships for the carrying of troops and supplies or as Armed Merchant Cruisers. The Merchant Navy were unarmed but vital to the war effort as they imported food and raw materials and provided passage for troops in and out of war zones. Britain had the largest merchant fleet in the First World War.

Armed Merchant Cruisers were, as their name implies, armed, and used in a more confrontational mode in the war. There was a detailed and specific checklist ships had to meet before being considered for conversion to an Armed Merchant Cruiser. That list included, amongst other things, conditions such as being able to stay at sea for at least 50 days at a cruising speed of 10 knots, being able to be divided into watertight compartments, good protection of coal and the ability to be quickly taken away from its usual purpose.

S.S India was considered suitable and was converted from passenger ship to armed cruiser in April 1915 at Silley Weir’s Wharf in Blackwall, East London. The next five days saw the ship complete its transformation with the log commenting at various times that the hands had been “Ammunitioning ship” and “taking in ammunition”. Time was also spent “cleaning and sweeping boat deck, taking in stores” as well as coaling the ship and evaluating its stability. Stability was an issue with Armed Merchant Cruisers as they usually relied heavily on cargo and luggage for ballast and this was not provided when the ships were at war and the ships had been made more unstable by the addition of guns and armoury on board.

S.S India was now H.M.S India and was destined to join the 10th Cruiser Squadron. Of the original crew that had served onboard prior to the conversion 8 seamen had decided not to rejoin the ship. As Wilfred John was still onboard when she sailed it is assumed that he had signed a T.124 agreement to bring him under direct naval control.

The aim of the 10th Cruiser Squadron was to seal both entrances to the North Sea and intercept any suspicious marine traffic whilst dodging enemy submarines. It was whilst carrying out this duty on patrol in the North Sea in the Arctic Circle near the Lofoten Islands in Norway accompanied by two armed trawlers, HMS Saxon and HMS Newland that she was attacked by the German Submarine U22 commanded by Kapitanleutnant Bruno Hoppe. The account of the action has been well documented and can be read elsewhere. Suffice to say that H.M.S India was struck by a torpedo from U22 at 17h40 and she sank very quickly with the loss of approx 9 officers and 107 men (figures differ on the casualties). However, about 189 men were saved, some repatriated to the UK but a number of these men were interned in Jorstadmoen, Norway. This has been well researched and a book published on the subject by Rebecca Clarke.

Unfortunately, Wilfred John was one of the seamen who lost his life in the action. CWGC has him listed as a Merchant Marine Reserve but I believe this isn’t totally correct as the Merchant Marine Reserve was only established in 1916 and Wilfred John had already died by then. His medals are engraved as MFA (Merchant Fleet Auxiliary) – see photo.

Wilfred John’s son Wilfred James Townrow was also in the Merchant Navy and served in WW1 on the S.S Euripides as a “Steward” and he also in WW2. He survived both wars and died on the 11th May 1972 aged 80 years old in Hove, East Sussex.

And now for the questions:

I was wondering if any forum member might be able to help fill in some of the blanks in Wilfred John’s story.

Firstly, I’m interested in finding out more details of his early life which includes the census information which seem to be missing.

Secondly, I would like to find out more on his service history. I have the crew agreement for 1915 but are his other crew agreements available online? He seems to have served under the name of John Townrow and not Wilfred. Did he only serve on P & O vessels? I cannot find a CR1 or CR2 record card for Wilfred John. Would these only have been available if he had survived?

Thirdly, I’m trying to locate a good photo of Panel 10 of the Plymouth Naval Memorial in Devon. Are photos of the panels available online anywhere? The photo on the Find a Grave site isn’t clear if I zoom in to locate Wilfred John’s name.

Finally, I know it’s a long shot but would anyone have a photo of Wilfred John or his family?

George

Images courtesy of Ancestry, CWGC & the National Maritime Museum for the 1915 crew list

[KizmeRD]

7 minutes ago, George Millar said:

Unfortunately, Wilfred John was one of the seamen who lost his life in the action. CWGC has him listed as a Merchant Marine Reserve but I believe this isn’t totally correct as the Merchant Marine Reserve was only established in 1916 and Wilfred John had already died by then. His medals are engraved as MFA (Merchant Fleet Auxiliary) – see photo.

George, you are right in what you say, and as you are also no doubt aware, this is a niche area that’s frequently misunderstood and inadequately comprehended.

Commissioned (white-ensign) MFA’s were merchant ships converted into ‘fighting’ ships. i.e. they hadn’t been built to be warships, they were simply fulfilling an auxiliary wartime role. These ships were commanded by a naval officer, and were given the HMS prefix. Large passenger ships tended to be used as ‘Armed Merchant Cruisers’, and smaller ones were employed as  ‘Armed Boarding Ships’ or ‘Fleet Messengers‘ etc. - Crews tended to be a mixture of naval reservists and T.124 seamen.

There were also a good number of non-commissioned (blue-ensign) MFA’s under Admiralty control (stores, fuel & water carriers, repair ships, boom defence vessels, salvage vessels etc), these weren’t front-line combatants, but nevertheless played an important role supporting naval operations.

And, thirdly, there were also Hospital Ships, Troop Transports, and certain other civilian manned vessels like military tugs that were also engaged on Government Service - but operating under the direction of the War Office.

For sake of convenience, the CWGC simply categorises all (transport agreement) merchant seafarers under the collective heading of ‘MMR’ - regardless of when they served, or what type of MFA was involved.

Those ordinary merchant seamen who voluntarily transferred into government service (along with their ship) signed so-called T.124 agreements (or derivatives thereof) - not all would have worked on armed merchant cruisers (but this type of vessel certainly employed a lot more stewards than others). During the first two years of the war T.124 agreements were temporary short term contracts for service on a particular named ship. After August 1916, when the MMR was formally established, revised agreements were introduced (T.124X) contracting these seamen ‘for the duration of hostilities’. The new contracts also provided greater flexibility to move men over to other similarly employed vessels, if required.

And, as you say, the medals were issued to these men had the suffix ‘MFA’ engraved on the rim.

MB

 

[George Millar]

MB,

Many thanks for the thorough explanation on the role of the Merchant seamen who served on these vessels. Regarding CR1 & CR2 record cards that I mentioned, would Wilfred John not have had one of these? They were introduced in 1913 well before Wilfred lost his life. I have found one for his son Wilfred James but is this because he survived the war and continued on as a merchant seaman? As he is listed in the 1911 census as serving with the P & O Company would he have been contracted to them and not served on other shipping lines?

George

[George Millar]

Now found a decent photo of Panel 10 Plymouth Naval Memorial so I can cross that one of my list of questions.

George

[Keith_history_buff]

'Cards dating from 1913 to 1921 were destroyed in 1969 for unknown reasons.'

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C3400

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/merchant-seamen-serving-since-1918/

[George Millar]

Keith,

Sorry for the delay in replying and many thanks for letting me know that the cards were destroyed, it saves me continuing to search for them. Thanks also for the link to the Clip site. Hopefully I'll pick up some useful information that I haven't already obtained. 

George