WW1: 4 Funnells killed, same day, same place
Jan 29th, 2007 by Andy Funnell
On the 11th of October 1915, 231 men of 1/3 (Kent) Field Company Royal Engineers sailed out of Devonport Docks for the eastern Mediterranean and Gallipoli. Just the previous day, the War Cabinet had decided to stop sending troops to Gallipoli where operations had not strictly gone to plan.
Luck ran out that day for our ancestors Alfred George, Frank, Harry (Henry George) and William Funnell, respectively Driver, Lance Corporal and Sappers in the Kent Field Company. Alfred and Harry were brothers from High Brooms, near Tunbridge Wells.
The voyage out to the eastern Mediterranean was uneventful. At Mudros Bay, Turkey, most of the Company transferred to smaller ships to transport them to Helles. The story has it that two ships were available. The commanders tossed a coin to decide who would have which.
Captain Salomons “won” the HMS Hythe, a former cross-channel paddle-driven ferry, with a displacement of 509 tons. She had been built in 1905 for the South Eastern and Chatham Railway to work the Dover-Calais route. Requisitioned at the outbreak of war she had been transformed into a minesweeper and armed with 2 x 12 pounder guns. In 1915, she was sent to work on troop movements in the Dardanelles.
The Hythe left Mudros Bay at about 16:00 on 28 October 1915 with our 4 Funnells aboard. She was severely overloaded. Men were packed on the decks, many huddling under an awning that had been rigged to give a little relief from rain and spray.
At about 20:00, as they neared their destination, men donned their kit, drivers went to their vehicles, and the Hythe doused all lights. Major Ruston relates:
“[…]It was a rough and squally day and … a great number of the men were seasick. However, we had almost reached our destination and were beginning to think about disembarking when suddenly a large vessel loomed out of the darkness and in spite of all efforts to avoid a collision it ran into us, cutting deep into our port bow and bringing down the foremast. In ten minutes the vessel sank, leaving numbers struggling in the water or hanging on to spars and other floating matter. The boats of the other vessel did all they could and picked up many poor fellows – but all too few, for nearly 130 men drowned”.
The other vessel was HMS Sarnia, also a requisitioned ferry built in 1910 for the London and South Western Railway. In war service she became an armed boarding steamer. With a displacement of 1498 tons and a top speed of 20.5 knots, Sarnia was a much larger and more powerful vessel than the Hythe, whose limit was only 12 knots (1).
Both vessels made at least one change of course but it seems that neither slowed down. The Sarnia struck the port side of the Hythe with such force that its bows cut halfway through the ship. That brought the Hythe to a dead stop and caused its mast to collapse on the awning. Numerous deaths were caused instantly by the bows and the mast but those remaining fared little better. The immense damage caused the Hythe to sink rapidly. It was all over in a little as ten minutes. Many drowned trapped under the awning or in the cabs of their vehicles. The others had little or no time to gain the railings and throw off their kit before they were in the sea. Panic reigned as soldiers scrambled for the few life-jackets that could be grabbed before the Hythe went down. Most of those who jumped overboard were drowned in the chaos that followed. Only a lucky few were able to scramble from one vessel to the other without getting their feet wet.
Our four ancestors lost their lives in this tragic accident. Four young men of a generation witness to bloodshed and butchery on a scale without precedent.
LEST WE FORGET
All four are commemorated on the Helles Memorial, Turkey.
1/3rd Kent Field Company Royal Engineers
2234 – Driver – Alfred George Funnell
719 – Lance Corporal – Frank Funnell
900 – Sapper – Henry George (Harry) Funnell
1633 – Sapper – William Funnell
Story based on information from:
Salomons Museum website
Research by Clive Meier resumed on the “Great War Forum”
Read more on the landing at Cape Helles
Photos by Martin Wills
The full story of the Hythe disaster can be found in the book Southborough Sappers of the Kent (Fortress) Royal Engineers by Frank A. Stevens (2000).
(1) HMS Sarnia survived the collision with the Hythe, only to be sunk by a torpedo in the Mediterranean on 12 September 1918.
16 Responses to WW1: 4 Funnells killed, same day, same place
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I am doing some research on my local village war memorial and was amazed to find your information on HMS Hythe. There are two men from my village who were lost on the Hythe. Ernest Vaughan and Ewbert Shelly (listed on our memorial as SPr J (Jack) Shelley). The top photo on your page shows the name of Ernest Vaughan. Do you by any chance have a photo of the Helles Memorial showing the name of Sapper Shelley?
If you do not, do you know anyone who might?
Yours hopefully
James Castle
I’m afraid not, James.
If you haven’t already found this information, I suggest you create a user account on the Great War Forums (you need it to view the attachments):
http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?
There is a list of names figuring in a book on the HMS Hythe disaster here:
http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=14415
Ewbert John Shelley is amongst them.
If you post a message, someone might be able to give you more details or the photo you’re looking for.
Just for the record, a lot of my information stemmed from this forum (including the photos) or Wikipedia (Cape Helles).
Sorry I can’t be of more help,
Andy
Dear Andy
Thank you for your reply
I don’t know where you live but in T Wells library there is a book on the Hythe, “The unfinished journey” by Michael J Penfold that is worth a read. You will have to ask for it at the counter as it is kept in a back room.
Also look on the microfilm of the Courier for 12 Nov 1915 as this has quite a spread on the disaster including photos of many of the casualties. I think there are also some in subsequent issues in 1915. Probably also worth a look in the Advertiser and Gazette.
Best wishes
James
Thanks for the picture of the memorial. Frank Funnell was my Grandmother’s brother (although she was born after his death). William was his first cousin and brothers Harry and Alfred were his second cousins. As far as I can see, it was a close family where they usually lived only a few doors apart. A further 3 close members of the family died in the Great War.
Today is the 95th anniversary of the sinking. I have laid flowers at Southborough, Tunbridge Wells and Rusthall war memorials where Frank, Harry and William are remembered. Sadly, St Mathew’s church, home of the big marble plaque which to my knowledge is the only place Alfred is remembered, is closed on Thursdays so I was unable to leave a cross for them today. They are remembered by their families.
A further note, Penfold’s book is great as an anecdotal source, having been compiled from interviews with survivors, but it’s factual content is pretty erroneous. For starters, the casualty list includes misspellings, wrong initials and is missing some names. Secondly Frank Funnell is mentioned twice, the first time as ‘Frank Fuller’ and the second as ‘Fred Funnell’. I recommend Judith Johnson’s ‘Southborough War Memorial’ for those commemorated in the town and Frank Stevens ‘Southborough Sappers…….’ for the Hythe boys. Both have pictures and details.
Thanks,
Jenny
Hi Jenny!
I don’t suppose you will see this in time, but if you do can you get in touch urgently?
I am involved with a short BBC documentary being made on the subject of the loss of HMS Hythe, the Southborough victims and Captain Salomons. However, we are especially interested in the story of the Funnell boys lost in the tragedy.
Whilst we already have a great deal of interesting material we would love to hear from you urgently if you get to see this!
You can contact me again through this site, or else feel free to call me on 01424 753356.
Thank you!
Andy Saunders
@Andy Saunders
I’ve forwarded your comment to Jenny.
Good little program on the BBC – Well done Andy Saunders.
Does anyone here have a list of the survivors of HMS Hythe ?
When I started researching my Great-Grandfather, the family story (from my grandmother – now deceased) was that he had died on a ship in WWI and as he was in the Southborough R.E I assumed initially it would have been the Hythe. However I have since discovered he actually died in 1918 in Italy after being transferred to the Manchester Regiment. His service record is lost but I have managed to trace his grave in Italy (And an “empty” one in Southborough cemetery), how he died from a bit of detective work on the men that died with him and also from Judith Johnsons great book some further details, but I still have this nagging thought that because of the family “story” he may have survived the Hythe but remained in Italy. His name was Frederick William Saunders – Will take a trip to Tunbridge Wells in the meantime 🙂
In France, there is a saying about shoemakers being the worsely shod… If anyone has recorded the program or can give me a chance to see it, please send on file, link or whatever. Being outside of UK but in Europe, I can’t get it.
Dear Andy,
I did see the programme a few months ago and in fact it has created interest to our family as my great grandfather Sgt Major John Carter drowned on HMS Hythe , on one website I found that he was last seen on the bridge of the ship with Captain Salomons.
On Sat 12th May my sister and I intend to bring John Carter’s grandson Alan who is now 83 to the Christchurch museum and then a visit to the memorial at St Mathews church, we are just hoping the church is open that day . We saw from the programme that our great grandfather’s name is on it.
I have just found your web page whilst looking around the various pages for info to help us with finding out more about the museum and memorial. Unfortunately our mother who was Sgt Major Carters last surviving grand daughter is too unwell to make the journey but she was always very interested in the history of her grandad.
Interesting to find this page so thank you.
Marian Marshall
For some years I have tried to discover where my uncle is commemorated. All my relatives are deceased, but before my mother died she spoke many times of the brother that she lost when she was a girl of five years in 1915. I knew that he died in the Dardenelles, and have recently discovered that he was part of (Kent) Fortress RE and died on 28th October, 1915. Of course my mother had no access to the internet and did not know where to start looking, and as she did not know which regiment, the War Office were unable to help her during the 1930’s. However I have recently found his number – 1184 – so I wonder can anyone help me to locate his place of rememberance so that I can lay a wreath for him. His name was James Henry BELL of 23 Commercial Road, Strood, Kent, he was born in 21898. Thank you
You can find him by doing a simple search on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s site et http://www.cwgc.org.
BELL, JAMES HENRY, Sapper, 1184, Died 28/10/1915, Aged 37, Royal Engineers, United Kingdom, Panel 23 to 25 or 325 to 328 at HELLES MEMORIAL.
James Henry Bell is also remembered on the HMS Hythe memorial which now resides in St Mathews Church High Brooms (Near Tunbridge Wells) – There is a photo of that memorial and details of the Hythe events here – http://www.kentfallen.com/PDF%20REPORTS/HIGH%20BROOM%20HMS%20HYTHE.pdf
A large proportion of the Hythe victims are listed on the Southborough War Memorial and there are some great articles about those men in the book Southborough War Memorial by Judith Johnson (available on Amazon for Kindle) but as James was not from Southborough he does not appear but he may of course appear on a war memorial at Strood.
There is a great organisation that can provide photographs of war graves for individuals (I found one of my Great Grandfather who was also an R.E Soldier from Southborough) but a search here indicates that James Bell was lost with the Hythe – Details here – http://twgpp.org/information.php?id=3484310
Exiting news about this, a musical production has been made called ‘The Dreamers’, based on Reggie Salomans’ story, including the Funnell brothers as main characters. The premiere performances are taking place on Oct 16th – 18th at The Assembly Hall Theatre in Tunbridge Wells. It’s been offered to take it into a West End theatre and Sir Tim Rice and Amanda Redman feature among the narrators.
There is also an exhibition at the Victoria Hall in Southborough on the morning of 13th September.
I had an email from one of the producers, they are encouraging as many family members as possible to come along.
Will this production include the sinking of HMS Hythe and the loss of David, Reggies son?
I am the great granddaughter of Sgt Major John Carter who was with Capt David Salomons on the bridge of HMS Hythe when it sank .
It was Reggie who was lost (Cpt. David Reginald Salomans, as opposed to Sir David Lionel Salomans, the baronet), so I would expect your grandfather to have a role, but I can’t find the list of characters.
http://www.assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk/the-dreamers#-ShowInfo
Thank you for the information and link to the show . We will look into booking at The Assembly Hall .