Ernest George Woolnough

A Deck Hand, Ernest died on 26th of October 1916 at the age of 24. 

Ernest was born at Lowestoft on 21 June 1892, a son of William Walter and Alice Woolnough. He attended school in Kirkley.

Ernest married Emily George in 1912 and they lived at 4 Danish Cottages, Police Station Road, Lowestoft.

Ernest enrolled in the Royal Naval Reserve on 11 January 1915 and joined the drifter Datum on 16 January 1915. 

On the night of 26-27 October 1916 the Datum was sunk by German destroyers. Ernest and the rest of the crew were lost when the Datum was sunk.

For details of the attack on the Dover Barrage see: The German attack on the 'Dover Barrage' 26th/27th October 1916 (sussexhistoryforum.co.uk)

During the war Emily lived at 4 Victoria Row, High Street, Dover, most probably because Ernest's boat, the Datum, was part of the Dover Patrol. After the war she lived at Gas House Lane, Bungay.