7 replies to this topic

[acwid]

My father has left me some personal effects of a second cousin Gunner Thomas Simmons Royal Marine Artillery B.M.A 14066 who was wounded in the head and arm on the Zeebrugge raid and died from his wounds in Chatham Naval Hospital. The information I have is the press cutting of Toms military funeral at Hartshill Cemetery Newcastle under Lyme,his 14-18 medal and ribbons also the bronze death plaque  and some large photos of Tom in his uniform and one of all the Royal Navy ships.A letter home to his mother and a postcard home .
I know Tom in-listed in April 1914 and was on board HMS Colossus at the Battle of Jutland  and was serving aboard the Vindictive when he was mortally wounded on St Georges Day April 23rd 1918 he was 25 years old.
Just hoped someone may be able to shed some light on Toms Naval career,
                 many thanks Chris.

[horatio2]

You can download his record of service here (he enlisted in May 1914):-
http://www.nationala...1&resultcount=4

That document should give you a Discharge Number (or DB Number) and with that you can find his attestation and discharge papers at Kew under ADM 157/3152 to 3176. The DB Number should be a five-figure number in the range 16250 to 16899. These papers are not, however, on-line.

[acwid]

Thank you horatio2 for finding his record of service, are these records a generalisation of service in the navy or does it go into detail ie involvement in battles /raids etc. anyway many thanks for your help much appreciated.

[horatio2]

Individual records rarely record participation in particular actions although, for RMA and RMA men you can determine what their ships were involved in by research of ship's records and naval histories. The exception for men of the RMLI and RMA is that their records note their participation in the post-Zeebrugge VC ballot, which identifies those who took part in that operation.

[MichaelBully]

Hello Chris

I take it that Thomas died on 20th May 1918 , from wounds incurred at  Zeebrugge

http://www.cwgc.org/...6684/SIMMONS, T

http://www.naval-his...readnoughts.htm - there's a picture of HMS Colossus under 1911, generally www.naval-history.net  is a great starting point .

Local papers often published obituaries and items about men killed in action, but the information often needs to be cross-referenced.
Hope research goes well
Regards
Michael Bully

[acwid]

Hello Michael

Thank you for the links showing his ship and a detailed account of the Zeebrugge raid, also the casualty list it brings it home as to the sacrifices the men made. I will continue the research and will visit his grave at Hartshill when I am next off .One last thing Tom was also given the 1914-15 star I have the box and ribbon but alas no medal .
      Many thanks
       Chris.

[domwalsh]

PM your email as I have quite a bit on him, including this cutting:

 SIMMONS obit.jpg   12.58K   4 downloads

Also his grave:

 SIMMONS T grave4.jpg   38.22K   7 downloads

[MichaelBully]

Glad to be of some assistance Chris, good luck with the research, and hope that you will post again on this subject. Always interested to hear about the men who took part in the Zeebrugge Raid and instances where the man may have succumbed to wounds incurred during the Raid at a later date can get overlooked.
And of course, well worth investigating previous GWF threads about 'Zeebrugge.
Which war memorials have honoured Thomas? It might also be worth visiting churches (built at the time)  near to where he lived or was brought up to see if he is commorated there.

Regards, Michael Bully

acwid, on 17 June 2012 - 02:31 PM, said:

Hello Michael

Thank you for the links showing his ship and a detailed account of the Zeebrugge raid, also the casualty list it brings it home as to the sacrifices the men made. I will continue the research and will visit his grave at Hartshill when I am next off .One last thing Tom was also given the 1914-15 star I have the box and ribbon but alas no medal .
  Many thanks
   Chris.