GORLESTON HEROES

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 The Wreck of the Schooner Dart

Contributed by Arthur Bensley (Grandson of Edward Bensley)

                Sidney "Sparks" Harris                                        RNLI Silver Medal                                   Edward "Ted" Bensley

The gale that swept across England on the 29th March, 1916 was almost without parallel, carving a tract of devastation rarely seen in this country.   A night when the thoughts of people living in coastal towns went out to  mariners fighting a desperate battle to survive against the fury of the elements.   By the evening of this awful day the wind at Gorleston had increased to hurricane force with blinding snow.   Houses shook to their foundations, roofs were damaged, telegraph pools smashed, fences and hoardings leveled.

One thirty the next morning a flare was sighted off Corton, while another vessel was burning flares and drifting north of the St. Nicholas lightship.   Coxswain Sidney Harris of the RNLI  lifeboat  Mark Lane at Gorleston who had been standing by, at once took steps to secure the services of a tug.   The lifeboat was launched at two fifty am and fought her way to the vessel near the lightship to find she had lost both anchors but was able to continue under her own steam.

Harris then proceeded to Hopton where he found the schooner Dart sunk with only her masts above water and her crew of four lashed to the rigging.   The lifeboat dropped anchor and veered towards the stricken ship actually passing over it, an incident always attended with the gravest possible danger.   The crew hauled the lifeboat back into position and with some difficulty got close to the spars of the Dart where they found two men in the main rigging with their legs rove between the ratlines.   The problem was how to release them and get them into the lifeboat.   One of the lifeboatmen, Edward Bensley jumped across into the main rigging and succeeded in getting the master and mate into the lifeboat despite their being helpless through hypothermia.

Ted Bensley couldn't get on to the foremast so returned to the lifeboat and the coxswain maneuvered the boat into position for the fore rigging, when Bensley leaped into the rigging again and bent a rope on to one of the men, eighty one years old Charles Samuel Kent, and helped him into the lifeboat.   He then attempted to get a line onto the remaining man  but the poor man fell backwards when released from the lashings.   Bensley called William Newson, another crewman to jump into the rigging to help him.   With Newson's assistance the fourth man was lowered to the deck of the Mark Lane.   All the men were either unconscious or semi conscious having been exposed to the icy wind with driving sleet and spray for twelve miserable hours.  

The coxswain at once hauled away from the wreck, and the men were vigorously rubbed to stimulate their circulation and given brandy.   Two regained consciousness, one being the grand old man of eighty one, while the other two remained unconscious.   On arrival at the quay a doctor found one of the men was dead but was able to save the other's life.

The rescue was made in a force eight NNE gale with a heavy sea in blizzard conditions.   The RNLI Management  Committee awarded Coxswain Sidney Harris the Fifth Service Clasp, probably a record, being the equivalent of five Silver Medals.   Edward Bensley was awarded a Silver Medal and eventually went on to become coxswain.

Skipper Ernest Lilly
Contributed by Merle Durrant (nee Lilly)

   Skipper Ernest Lilly front row centre.   Son Ernest Lilly front left.  Anybody know others?

On November 15th 1926 the Buckie drifter Craigmin was making for Yarmouth in the early morning in stormy weather.   A strong wind prevailed, reaching almost gale force with a very rough sea   In the neighbourhood of Smith's Knoll she sprang a leak and although the pumps were started, the water increased until some of the catch was afloat and the pumps in the fish hold choked.   The engineer reported it was impossible to remain below, and the skipper made distress signals by flares and siren blasts.  

About this time Skipper Lilly on the drifter  Chestnut  observed the signals, and despite the darkness and rough sea maneuvered his vessel alongside the Craigmin, almost touching her, until he succeeded in taking off the skipper and crew of nine.   The Chestnut stood by for an hour and a half, when the Craigmin foundered.   It was a very dangerous and difficult task.   The skipper of the Craigmin was also to be commended for he stuck to his wheel, and the engineer kept below, so the vessel could be maneuvered until the rest of the crew were taken off, and the skipper and engineer were last to leave.   The skipper of the Craigmin had written on behalf of his crew and himself expressing their admiration of the skill and pluck of Skipper Lilly, but for which they would have gone down with their vessel.   When they reached the sailors home they couldn't speak loudly enough in appreciation of their rescuer.
Skipper Ernest Lilly was presented with a handsome silver cup awarded by the Board of Trade in recognition of his gallant rescue of the 'Scotch' crew.
Extracted from Gt. Yarmouth Mercury

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           Ralph Jones G.C.

     A HERO OF THE COWRA P.O.W CAMP BREAKOUT
Contributed by Dennis Durrant

     
 

Ralph Jones the Gorleston boy born at 109 Trafalgar Road West served in the army in WWI and came home to the difficulties of finding permanent work in Gorleston, so emigrated to Australia in the hope of finding a better life, not realising that his destiny was to be a hero in his adopted country and eventually have that heroism recognised after a long battle with the authorities by his friends, to receive the George Cross he truly deserved.   Fifty eight years after the tragedy  his home town give him the honour of a road bearing his name.   Ralph Jones G.C. Way.
Ralph eventually settled in Teuna, lodging with the Cook's who became his closest friends.   When war came he was conscripted into the Australian Army but being too old for active service was posted as a guard at the prisoner of war camp at Cowra.    The captives were mainly Japanese with one compound of Italians.  
The weekend before the breakout he had a meal with the now widowed Mrs. Cook and her family when he spoke of how restless the Japanese were.   The Italians were no problem, happy to be waiting in relative comfort for the war to finish but the Japanese code of conduct, Bushido, required them to fight to death for their emperor and country, taking their own life before surrender.   They had dishonoured themselves and their families and never expected to be allowed to return to Japan.   They brooded over their situation while their number increased as the tide of war turned against Japan.   Overcrowding was adding to their difficulties.
The camp commandant had been warned of impending trouble in their compound.   They had been hoarding anything they could use as a weapon ready for a planned breakout.  
The authorities decided to move the Japanese N.C.O's who were causing the discontent, but when the prisoners  learned of the plan they immediately made their move during the early hours of 5th August, 1944.   Over 1000 prisoners threw blankets over the wire to escape, with he aim of one group to capture a vickers machine gun on a trailer which was unmanned and turn it on the guards then capture the armoury.   Their aim of mass carnage could well have been achieved but for the bravery of two guards, privates Jones and Hardy, who at the sound of the alarm rushed to the gun to get there before the prisoners, to rake the fanatical hoard with deadly fire, killing many before they were overrun, beaten and stabbed to death by their crazed attackers, but not before one of them managed to make the gun temporarily useless.   Their bravery bought valuable time for the defenders, saving the day.
As a result of the breakout two other Australians and 231 prisoners were killed,108 wounded, 31 committed suicide in the compound while another 378 escaped from the camp not having achieved their objective and of these 334 were recaptured over the next nine days.   A number of the escapees  had committed suicide.
Jones and Hardy were awarded the George Cross for their bravery posthumously in 1950.
Private Ralph Jones G.C. is remembered as one of Australia's heroes by a memorial stone in Tuena and a monument in Cowra with the heads of those soldiers who died that night sculpted in relief.   Now he has been honoured by his town of birth.
Dennis Durrant

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WILLIAM ADAMS  -  GORLESTON LIFESAVER
Contributed by Stewart William Adams

William adams was born in Gorleston on 25th January, 1864, the son of a Trinity pilot, Abel Adams.   He developed into a highly proficient swimmer at an early age.   It was his expertise at swimming that enabled William to rescue over 100 lives from drowning.   He made his first rescue at the age of 11, saving the life of a young girl who had fallen from the pier into the sea.   This event marked the beginning of a lifetime of lifesaving.
On leaving school Adams took up employment as a tinplate worker.   However every summer he returned to his alternative occupation of bathing hut proprietor and swimming instructor on Gorleston beach where he was usually close at hand if a bather required assistance.
In 1890 William Adams was the proud recipient of the Royal Humane Society's bronze medal for his bravery in rescuing a local lad named Robert Drane.   He soon became known in the press as the "Hero of Gorleston Pier" and reports of his rescues appeared with great regularity. He was honoured on numerous occasions, receiving many prestigious awards in recognition of his illustrious lifesaving record.   In 1906 the Mayor, Alderman C.N. Brown presented Adams with an illuminated address.   The testimonial signed by 90 subscribers, stated that he had saved 77 lives up to that time.
He coached some of the best swimmers of the day and gave lessons to many schools and clubs, acquiring the title of "Professor Adams" in the process.   One young pupil who greatly  benefited from the swimming tuition Adams provided was Frank Keymer, whose life Adams had saved in 1898 after a particularly perilous rescue.   Subsequently Keymer became a member of the Gorleston Swimming Club of which Professor Adams was instructor .   It would seem Adams taught him well, for in an extraordinary coincidence Keymer himself saved a life in 1905.  
William Adams passed away in 1913 at the tragically early age of 49, having made his last dramatic rescue only a month earlier.   He had been far from well for most of that year, yet despite his bad health he couldn't ignore a cry for help.   He went to the assistance of an elderly man who was in difficulty and brought him to safety.   Unfortunately by carrying out this final act of bravery William Adams hastened his own end.   The final rescue was in September, 1913.   He died in the October.
William Adams dedicated his life to life saving, using his physical strength and swimming powers to save others.   The Yarmouth Mercury carried an eloquent tribute.   "In all his rescues" the newspaper said, "he always put aside any thought of personal risk, acting on the moment with one thought uppermost, that the life of a fellow creature was in peril.   Such  characteristics make the true hero".

                                            
If anyone knows of the Gorleston Swimming Club, any of its members or details of any rescues carried out by William Adams his great great grandson Stewart would love to hear from you.  email:  stewartwilliamadams@hotmail.com. 
or phone:  07909513889


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              DR. A.S.K. ANDERSON MA,MB,ChB,DPH,DSO,MC
                                         Contributed by Dennis Durrant

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Police Constable Charles Algar
Contributed by Dennis Durrant

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  CHIEF PETTY OFFICER FREDERICK SMITH A.M.            

 Contributed by Rodney Smith

Frederick Smith like many other young lads joined the Royal Navy in the 1920's to become a career sailor and worked his way up to the rank of Chief Petty Officer with a young wife and child in his home town of Gorleston by the time World War II began.  

In 1942 he was serving on the destroyer Grove escorting a supply convoy from Alexandria in Egypt to the beleaguered Island of Malta when the convoy was spotted by enemy planes bringing about an intensive attack by bombers, submarines and also ships of the Italian navy.   The Grove was hit by two torpedoes fired by the German submarine U 77 that blew off the ships bow which floated perpendicular in the water behind the main structure.   The destroyer listed heavily to port with her stern down taking only minutes to sink leaving a large oil slick on the surface.   Two officers and 108 ratings went down with the ship leaving just 65 survivors, another could have been Chief Petty Officer Smith had he not courageously gone back to rescue another crew member thereby sacrificing his own life in the vain attempt.   Chief Petty Officer Smith was posthumously awarded the Albert Medal which is equivalent to the George Cross.  His wife was presented with the medal by King George VI at Buckingham Palace in June 1943.   The citation read:   "For great bravery in attempting to save life at sea - C.P.O. Smith's ship was torpedoed and abandoned.   She was settling and likely at any moment to capsize, when somebody was heard calling from her bows.   C.P.O. Smith swam back to her, taking a desperate risk to save a comrade, but he was too late and his gallant action cost him his life."

The names of those lost on the Grove are engraved on the Naval Memorial overlooking Chatham in Kent.

The attack on  the convoy had been so fierce that some ships had to turn back to Alexandria.   Also sunk was the light cruiser Hermoine with the loss of 8 officers and 79 ratings.  

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Signalman John Steward is one of the many unsung heroes of war who died because they were  prepared to put their own safety at risk for others.   Often they received no medals, or recognition apart from the gratitude of those they saved and the pride of their loved ones left to mourn their loss.  This is also the story of  the sad losses suffered by one family in the "Great War".

SIGNALMAN J.E. STEWARD RNR

Contributed by Mike & Linda Steward

John Edward Steward (Jack to his friends) was just 18 years old when he was drowned on 13th October, 1917. He was a deckhand on H.M. Trawler Edwardian based at H.M. Ship, Lord Lansdown, Oban naval base on the west coast of Scotland.

He dived into the water in an attempt to save a shipmate who had fallen overboard.   The other sailor survived but John was pulled under by his heavy clothing and the weight of water in his seaboots.

As far as we know there was no official recognition  of his brave act, but to his family he was a hero.

The following is John's obituary in the local paper, Great Yarmouth Mercury, which also relates the other sacrifices of war suffered by his parents, also heroes.

Signalman J.E. Steward Royal Naval Reserve

For the third time in two years the war has brought deep sorrow into the home of Mr. and Mrs. W.H. Steward by the news received a few days ago that their youngest son Signalman J.E. Steward RNR of HMT Edwardian, has been drowned at Oban Bay, on the West Coast of Scotland a few days previously (the date is not yet to hand and is not given in the official intimation of the loss by the Admiralty).   Signalman Steward was an old Church Road boy, who afterwards worked at Messrs. Combes Maltings, Southtown before joining the service three years ago.  He had recently been home on leave and was making his first trip at sea when he lost his life at the early age of 18 years in a brave and gallant attempt to save a comrade from drowning.

The circumstances of the case appear surrounded in mystery as show in a letter to his mother by a comrade who writes:  "Just a few lines to express my heartfelt sympathy to you all in your sad bereavement.   I know it must be very sad news and that you would like to know how poor Jack was drowned, but if it is any consolation to you, I can say he died the death of a hero.   I am sure I never had a better chum, and his memory will be as sacred to me as to you, his dear mother.   I hope and trust God will give you strength and courage to bear this terrible news.   I have a little present that Jack had bought for you not twenty four hours before he met his brave death in the noble sacrifice to save the life of another man.   If possible I will come to Yarmouth the next time we reach port and let you know all I can.   Please accept the sympathy of the ship's company in the loss of such a good shipmate, because he was a friend to all who knew him and who came in contact with him, and who deeply regret the occurrence which brought this sorrow."

Mr. and Mrs. eldest son Private Walter Steward, fell in action on the Gallipoli Peninsular, and two months ago their son-in-law Warrant Officer F.P. Lake RNR was killed in action on HMS First Prize in the Atlantic Ocean.   To the bereaved family we tender our sympathy.

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IN MEMORY OF MY FATHER WHO DIED AT TOO EARLY AN AGE

HE WASN'T A WAR HERO,  JUST MY FATHER WHO BRAVELY STRUGGLED WITH ILLNESS FOR MANY YEARS.

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