James William Quantrill
A Deck Hand with H.M. Drifter Ocean Fisher, James died on 16th of June 1918 at the age of 18.
James was born at Poplar, London, on 27 November 1899, note, however, that his Royal Naval Reserve service record states that he was born at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. He was a son of George Edward and Rebecca Martha Quantrill. In 1901 his family lived at 170 Manchester Road, Poplar. By 1911 they were living at 17 High Street, Lowestoft, and this was still their home in 1915. See house on LowestoftOldAndNow.org
James joined the Royal Naval Reserve on 13 January 1915 as a Signal Boy, with service number SB 33, and he served with the trawler Ajax II. On 29 October 1916 he joined H.M.S. Halcyon II. On 27 November 1917 he obtained a transfer to serve as a Deck Hand, and was given service number DA 19075. He trained as a hydrophone listener and qualified on 19 January 1918. In 1918 he served with the trawler Ocean Fisher.
On 16 June 1918 the Ocean Fisher was on minesweeping operations off the Haddock Bank in the North Sea. The drifter brought up a mine in the trawl. The mine exploded, sinking the vessel, with the loss of all nine crew including James.
James Quantrill
17
High Street
Lowestoft
United Kingdom
52.4793651, 1.7554219
Comments
He died at sea in the first…
He died at sea in the first world war. Had only just moved to Lowestoft with his family from London looking for a better life.
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