RN Hospital East Stonehouse Devon

[Nannysavior]

Christopher Sheldon Stoakes - my GG Uncle is buried in Cleethorpes Cemetery close to his parents. There are pages & pages of pneumonia deaths - are they as a result of the Spanish flu outbreak? He is recognised by the WGC but would he be named somewhere?

[horatio2]

4 hours ago, Nannysavior said:

There are pages & pages of pneumonia deaths - are they as a result of the Spanish flu outbreak?

Almost certainly. I think secondary bacterial pneumonia was frequently the cause of death, not the flu virus. Best ask a medical specialist.

4 hours ago, Nannysavior said:

He is recognised by the WGC but would he be named somewhere?

I assume he is named on his grave at Cleethorpes, so would not be commemorated elsewhere by CWGC. He may, however, be named on a local war memorial.

 CWGC records that he was serving in the Admiralty drifter HMS SHEEN. However this boat is not named in his RNR record. SHEEN entered service on 1 Sep 1918 and was based at Lowestoft (HMS HALCYON). STOAKES's RNR record does show him drafted to HALCYON from HMS VIVID, the Devonport base, on 29 Ag 1918 but it is not clear whether he actually joined HMS SHEEN (it is possible that he did). If he was serving in SHEEN at Lowestoft during September 1918 it is not recorded when he fell ill and was moved back to VIVID for hospital treatment because there is no HALCYON discharge date.

Edited 6 April by horatio2

[Nannysavior]

2 minutes ago, horatio2 said:

Almost certainly. I think secondary bacterial pneumonia was frequently the cause of death, not the flu virus. Best ask a medical specialist.

I assume he is named on his grave at Cleethorpes, so would not be commemorated elsewhere by CWGC. He may, however, be named on a local war memorial.

 CWGC records that he was serving in the Admiralty drifter HMS SHEEN. However this boat is not named in his RNR record. SHEEN entered service om 1 Sep 1918 and was based at Lowestoft (HMS HALCYON). STOAKES RNR record does show him drafted to HALCYON from HMS VIVID, the Devonport base, on 29 Ag 1918 but it is not clear whether he actually joined HMS SHEEN (it is possible that he did). If he was serving in SHEEN at Lowestoft during September 1918 it is not recorded when he fell ill and was moved back to VIVID for hospital treatment because there is no HALCYON discharge date.

[Nannysavior]

Thankyou, his grave is a family kerb set - I live in his home town & only WW2 CWGC's. I'll double check I haven't missed any local memorials.

[seaJane]

6 hours ago, horatio2 said:

Almost certainly. I think secondary bacterial pneumonia was frequently the cause of death, not the flu virus. Best ask a medical specialist.

Not a medical specialist exactly but everything I have read suggests that flu led to pneumonia which indeed was the direct cause of death. There are some good (harrowing) descriptions in the relevant chapter of Lyn Macdonald's Roses of No Man's Land.

seaJane