Remembrance Sunday in Portsmouth 2025

 

Early on the Sunday morning I went to a Royal Navy service at the Memorial in Southsea remembering the 25,000 sailors killed during World War One and World War Two, who were buried at sea and had no known grave. My Taid (maternal Welsh Grandfather) Frederick Matthews, MC RNVR, served in the Royal Naval Division 1915-1918. It was a very moving service. 

Afterwards I finished off my visit to the historic dockyard in Portsmouth (see earlier post) during which I visited HMS Warrior (built in 1860 by East London Iron workers, who later formed what became West Ham FC). See the photo in bottom right of collage of the pay differentials between the Captain of the Warrior and ordinary seaman.  It was about 20x as much per day. 

Pretty shocking but certainly a lot less than the current West Ham FC football player gets today compared to average Newham residents wages nowadays. 

I then toured the bombardment ship HMS M33 (centre) which is one of only 3 British ships to survive from World War One. It first served in the Gallipoli campaign, which my Grandfather, also took part in and as I clambered over the ship, I wondered if at the time he had seen it or heard its guns in action. 

Next I visited the National Naval museum followed by another boat tour to the Submarine museum at Gosport and did a quick tour of the second world war sub HMS Alliance, the first ever British sub HMS Holland and the museum.  

I missed out on the Explosion and Firepower Museum and boat trip. Next time... 

Ride to the Somme, Passchendaele & Arras 2017

The Battle of Passchendaele in the First World War took place from 31 July 1917 to 10 November 1917. There were an estimated 250,000 British causalities, killed or wounded during this battle.

The picture above on the left is of my maternal Grandfather (Taid in Welsh) Captain Frederick John Matthews MC who served in the First World War in the Royal Naval Division (a land based unit which fought in the trenches at Gallipoli, France and Belgium).

I believe he fought in this Battle and it may have been where he won his Military Cross.

After the war he served again in the Royal Welch Regiment as a Warrant officer which included fighting in Afghanistan in 1919.

My second Cousin Becky is also a warrant officer in the British Army. She also served recently in Afghanistan and has her Great Grandfather's Service medal and now her own.  Her husband John is also in the Army and is taking part in sponsored cycle ride on Wednesday from the UK to the Somme Battlefields to raise money for the  Armed Forces Charity SSAFA.

Please consider sponsoring John online here for a worthy cause that helps 50,000 people every year.

4 August 2014 - 100th anniversary of the start of World War One

This morning at 11am I went to the Cenotaph at East Ham Central Park for a Newham Council ceremony to mark the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War One.

A British Legion representative laid the first wreath followed by the Mayor and representatives of the former boroughs of East and West Ham.

One lovely spontaneous touch was as the wreaths were being laid, a passerby stopped and started singing a beautiful lament to the fallen "Sleep on Beloved, Sleep on and take your rest".

My Grandfather, Frederick John Matthews MC, Royal Naval Division, fought in the First World War. On 5 August 1914 he was still an apprentice "mechanical engineer and draughtsman" in a South Wales Steel works. He left to join up on 2 September 1914 and returned to work (briefly) in January 1919.

I hope in the coming years to follow in his footsteps a hundred year later, starting off next  year at Gallipoli in Turkey then the trench battles of France and Belgium.

hat tip picture Cllr Ayesha Chowdhury,