Canteen Assistant Alfred Biggs HMS Good Hope

[Will O'Brien]

As per CWGC

Name: BIGGS, ALFRED

Initials: A

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Canteen Assistant

Regiment: Admiralty Civilian

Unit Text: H.M.S. "Good Hope."

Date of Death: 01/11/1914

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Grave/Memorial Reference: 7.

Cemetery: PORTSMOUTH NAVAL MEMORIAL

[Will O'Brien]

& the memorial info

Cemetery: PORTSMOUTH NAVAL MEMORIAL

Country: United Kingdom

Locality: Hampshire

Historical Information: After the First World War, an appropriate way had to be found of commemorating those members of the Royal Navy who had no known grave, the majority of deaths having occurred at sea where no permanent memorial could be provided. An Admiralty committee recommended that the three manning ports in Great Britain - Chatham, Plymouth and Portsmouth - should each have an identical memorial of unmistakable naval form, an obelisk, which would serve as a leading mark for shipping. The memorials were designed by Sir Robert Lorimer, who had already carried out a considerable amount of work for the Commission, with sculpture by Henry Poole. After the Second World War it was decided that the naval memorials should be extended to provide space for commemorating the naval dead without graves of that war, but since the three sites were dissimilar, a different architectural treatment was required for each. The architect for the Second World War extension at Portsmouth was Sir Edward Maufe (who also designed the Air Forces memorial at Runnymede) and the additional sculpture was by Charles Wheeler, William McMillan, and Esmond Burton. Portsmouth Naval Memorial commemorates almost 10,000 sailors of the First World War and almost 15,000 from the Second World War

No. of Identified Casualties: 24585

[Will O'Brien]

Some HMS Good Hope info

HMS Good Hope was a drake class Cruiser & had a 14,000 tonne displacement. Her keel was laid down on 11th September 1899 & was launched on the 21st February 1901. The original intention had been to name her Africa. She became the flagship of the 1st Cruiser Squadron in 1906 & Flagship of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron in 1908. In 1913 she went to the reserve fleet but upon the outbreak of war joined the 6th Cruiser Squadron & became the flagship of Rear Admiral Sir Christopher Craddock. She was sunk at the Battle of Coronel by the German Cruisers Scharnhorst & Gneisenau along with HMS Monmouth. All her crew were lost. The majority of the crew were reservists & had only just been recalled to service.

[Will O'Brien]

There is an interesting online memorial to those who were lost at the Battle of Coronel which can be seen here

& the following is a photo of the Good Hope which Alfred served on