grantmal Posted 3 September , 2006 Share Posted 3 September , 2006 Hi All, Can anyone help in identifying a sailor killed at the Anzac Landing on April 25th, 1915? This poor bloke was shot through the head as he helped row C Section, 3rd Field Ambulance ashore from the destroyer Ribble. I am unsure of his ship - the Ribble towed lifeboats from the Devanha for the troops to land in, but I remember reading somewhere that the sailors detailed to row them were from a third ship.....have tried unsuccessfully to locate the reference. The NA has advised where I can find records of the Ribble etc, but in the meantime any help much appreciated. Thanks, Grant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kin47 Posted 3 September , 2006 Share Posted 3 September , 2006 Hello I cannot name this man specifically, but here is the breakdown for naval (RND not included) killed and died of wounds for 25 April AGAMEMNON 3 ratings ALBION 2 ratings BACCHANTE 2 ratings CANOPUS 3 ratings CHELMER 1 rating CORNWALLIS 1 officer, 14 ratings EURAYLUS 6 ratings HUSSAR 1 rating IMPLACABLE 2 ratings LORD NELSON 4 ratings MOSQUITO 1 officer OSIRIS 2 ratings PRINCE GEORGE 1 rating PRINCE OF WALES 1 rating QUEEN 1 rating QUEEN ELIZABETH 1 rating VENGEANCE 1 rating All best don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 3 September , 2006 Share Posted 3 September , 2006 Grant, Have you read Bean's narrative of the Gaba Tepe Landing at http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/chapter.asp?volume=2 It seems HMS LONDON provided many of the boats for this section of the landings (but she seems not to have had any RN casualties according to Don). HMS RIBBLE probably also provided boats and naval personnel and the landing of 3rd FA north of Ari Burnu certainly drew heavy Turkish fire. A bit hard to sort this one out. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 3 September , 2006 Share Posted 3 September , 2006 Grant, Re-reading Bean's narrative, its seems that the boats from BACCHANTE, which was carrying no troops, were sent across to LONDON. BACCHANTE seems to be the only ship Don names who had casualties. Might be worth looking here first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kin47 Posted 3 September , 2006 Share Posted 3 September , 2006 Hello Appending my list, LONDON did have 1 rating from the landings dying of wounds on 2 May. All best don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 3 September , 2006 Share Posted 3 September , 2006 Of the above, on 25 April:- ALBION, CORNWALLIS, EURYALUS, IMPLACABLE, QUEEN ELIZABETH at Helles PRINCE GEORGE at Kum Kale. VENGEANCE, LORD NELSON in the Straits. CANOPUS at Bulair with RND. BACCHANTE, QUEEN, PRINCE OF WALES, CHELMER at Anzac. (and PS LONDON per Don's last) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinWills Posted 3 September , 2006 Share Posted 3 September , 2006 The rating from HMS Queen is Stoker G Watson RNR who is buried at Baby 700. My understanding is that he is one of a handful of naval men who decided they wanted to be in the thick of the action and went ashore with army units to "do their bit". I do know that Bacchante lent men to several other ships so it could be one of them - I will try and check the log for the day which I think gives a little more detail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grantmal Posted 5 September , 2006 Author Share Posted 5 September , 2006 Thanks very much for the information. Have located Wilkinson among the debris...... The Ribble’s sub, Lt Stopford-Sackville, was mortally wounded as he waved off C Section, and a leading seaman shot in the thigh. Captain Wilkinson suffered a sleeve wound; another 2 bullets passed between his legs as he leaned against the searchlight. Could have been nasty. More relevant though; Wilkinson goes on to say“out of 18 men leant to me from London 15 were casualties”. The sailorin the boat was killed, according to eyewitnesses, but the only casualty from the London died of wounds on May 2nd (thanks Don). I don’t suppose he should be discounted as Don Cadoux (C Section), who was killed soon after the mystery sailor, is listed as having been killed on May 3rd. His body (and presumably the sailor’s) was still in the boat with 3 badly wounded men after C Section landed – they were later (probably) taken aboard the Minnewaska. Rev Greev on the Minnewaska sent details of these men ashore on May 2nd. The 3rd Field Ambulance received the news on May 3rd – somehow this has become Cadoux’s date of death. Could the same have happened to the mystery sailor? Did I say I knew nothing about naval records? You mentioned checking the log Martin – does a ship’s log list casualties? If they provide some details would a stint in the NA with the logs of those ships at Anzac on the 25th April be the best way to narrow down the field? Thanks again, Good on you, Grant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 5 September , 2006 Share Posted 5 September , 2006 It would come as no surprise if casualties are mis-dated. There was pretty average chaos in compiling casualty returns in the first few days after the landings and many errors were made.. For example, the many dead of Plymouth Bn RND at 'Y' Beach on 25/26 April are mostly recorded as having died several days later, and I am sure they were not the only unit to suffer mis-recording. H2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kin47 Posted 5 September , 2006 Share Posted 5 September , 2006 Hello I didn't include those who died of wounds later. Before the end of April, CANOPUS (2 ratings), QUEEN (1 rating), SWIFTSURE (1 rating). Stopford-Sackville died on 2 May. All best don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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