MAY 31ST 1916 - THE BLACKEST DAY FOR STOKE CLIMSLAND DURING WORLD WAR I

May 31st 1916 would have been long remembered in Stoke Climsland as it was the day that saw the greatest loss of life for the Parish throughout the duration of WW1. Four sailors were killed during the Battle of Jutland. The bodies of all four were never recovered and, as well as our own memorials, they are commemorated on the Royal Navy Memorial on Plymouth Hoe.

On the 30th May, Admiral Sir John Jellicoe led the Royal Navy’s Grand Fleet from Orkney’s Scapa Flow towards the Battle of Jutland, just off the west coast of Denmark, the largest naval engagement of the First World War. Jutland brought together the two most powerful naval forces of the time. By the end of the battle in the early hours of the 1st of June 1916, more than eight thousand British and German personnel had lost their lives. Amongst the British ships lost were HMS Indefatigable and HMS Defence.

 

HMS Indefatigable was hit several times in the first minutes of the opening phase of the battlecruiser action. At approximately 4 pm shells from the German battlecruiser Von der Tann caused an explosion ripping a hole in her hull, and a second explosion, at 4.03 pm hurled large pieces of the ship 200 feet in the air. Only three of the crew of 1,018 survived. Amongst those killed were local men Stoker 1st Class Charley Colwill and Leading Stoker William Thomas Doidge.

The demise of HMS Indefatigable

HMS Defence blew up whilst under heavy fire from the German battleship "Friedrich Der Grosse". At 6.20 pm she was struck by two salvoes that detonated her rear magazine. The fire from that explosion spread to her secondary magazines, which exploded in turn. All of her increased war time complement of 904 men were killed and these included Stoker 2nd Class Herbert Floyd and Able Seaman Stanley Jenkins.

HMS Defence

BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS

Stoker 1st Class Charley Colwill: He was born in Trewarlet, Lezant in 1883, the son of John and Martha Colwill. Charlie was a farm labourer when he enlisted at Devonport for 12 years on 15th June 1905. He remained a stoker for all of his service which culminated in him joining his last ship, HMS Indefatigable, on 4th December 1915. He was 38 when he died.

Leading Stoker William Thomas Doidge: William was born in Stoke Climsland on 30th June 18891 and enlisted at Devonport for 12 years on 21st September 1909. He became part of Indefatigable’s company on 14th December 1915. He was a farm labourer /cowman before joining up and was married to Dorothy shortly before he was killed. He was 28 when he was killed.

Stoker 2nd Class Herbert Floyd: Herbert was born in Callington on 16th April 1890 and had enlisted ‘for the duration of the hostilities’ on 11th October 1915. He was a farm labourer and at the time of his joining up, he was a live-in-servant at the farm of Harry Cory in South Hill. His mother and step-father, Mary and Frederick Smeeth, lived in Stoke village. He was transferred to HMS Defence on 20th February 1916 and was 26 years old when he was killed.

Able Seaman Stanley Jenkins: Stanley was the second of the three sons of James and Mary Jenkin who were killed in the war. He was born in 1897 in Lower Downgate but later moved with his parents to Kelly Bray. He was 16 when he joined the Royal Navy on 11th January 1913 for 12 years as a Boy Seaman. He progressed from this rank to become an Able Bodied Seaman when he joined HMS Defence on 23rd June 1914. He was 18 when he was killed and was the youngest person from the Parish to die in the conflict.

Plymouth Naval Memorial on the Hoe.

 

Alaskan Journal Part 14 (that's it!)

The finale to our visit was the primary reason for coming across - Ian and Meghan's wedding. Held at the Covenant Community Church in Eagle River and followed by an evening reception at the Bayshore Club in Anchorage, it really was worth coming over for at many levels. It was interesting taking part in a wedding that was both Alaskan and British, with some Tennessee touches included as well.  Here are just a few photographs to give a flavour of the day.

And now we are back home in sunny Cornwall, it all seems such a long time ago. Alaska? Great place to visit. Great people. Great scenery and wildlife. If you can make it, do go. You won't regret it.

The bride teaches in a primary school and here is the bridegroom with the girls from the class who were flower girls for the ceremony.

The wedding cake ensemble: strawberry and soapberry. Very nice it was too.

The bridal couple with their respective parents.

Meghan and Ian.

It wouldn't be Alaska without a superb view. This is from the verandah at the reception.

Just something that was propped up on a ledge.

There was a Lego theme at many points in the wedding and reception. Ian's favourite playthings when he was younger.

And there was even a Lego bridal couple on top of the cake.

A general shot taken at the reception. Many speeches were made and all of them were very good. It was interesting to compare and contrast the approaches taken by those from Tennessee and those from the UK. The US speechmakers were more touchy-feely (and I don't mean that in a derogatory way) whilst the speeches from the Brits, especially that from the Best Man (one of the groom's brothers) was a tour de force demonstration of British mickey-taking.

Alaskan Journal Part 13

Our last full pre-wedding day in Anchorage and we spent the morning lazing about and dropping into a large hiking/camping/outdoor stores - REI. These places are interesting to browse around, as are DIY stores, as they give a real flavour of how the locals occupy their time. I like gadgets and this place is gadget heaven. Solar powered rucksack with three USB ports anyone? Need some kit to allow some ice-fishing in comfort? Or how about a combined saw/machete with a 24 inch blade? Folks in these parts take the outdoors very seriously as evidenced by the thousand and one things you could spend your money on. And they don't just do it in the summer time: gear for four seasons outside was there before your very eyes. Did I buy anything? I was tempted, especially by the saw/machete, but common sense prevailed when I thought of the possible hassle of getting it back through customs at Heathrow. Having to argue at 7 am after a 10 hour red-eye flight would not have been fun.

What was fun, however, was the 3 mile stroll we took in the afternoon along part of the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail. It's a trail alongside the Cook Inlet and follows the fringes of Anchorage. Spectacular views all the way with snow covered mountain ranges in the distance. Conditions were so clear that we finally got to see Denali/Mt McKinley, albeit a white speck on the horizon. But then what would you expect from something around 150 miles away! We saw a few wading birds that were new to us and I'm convinced there were a couple of black bears lurking on the edge of a wood at one point. Cue a few verses of 'God save the Queen'. That did the trick.

As did the food we had at the Fat Ptarmigan in the early evening. A lot of us over for the wedding are staying in the same B and B, with others elsewhere close-bye, so a nice house-party buzz has developed. It's added to our enjoyment of our time in Anchorage.

Looking over the Cook Inlet from the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail to snow covered mountains the west. Remember this is just a mile or so from downtown Anchorage.

At least a couple of the blobs in the distance were Black Bears. Again remember this is just a mile or so from downtown Anchorage.

Denali/Mt McKinley poking its head above the treeline. We couldn't see for the mist when we were a lot closer but a view from 150 miles is better than nothing.

A pair of American Wigeon.

A Lesser Yellowlegs poking around in the silt.

A pair of Sandhill Cranes. Big birds, about 4 foot tall.

Rather less elegant when they were picking up speed to fly.

We've come across libraries in telephone kiosks before but this is the smallest library we've come across. It was outside Fire Island Bakery, who make rather tasty coconut macaroons and blue cheese focaccia.

Alaskan Journal Part 12

A nice relaxed day when we took our final longish hike. Glorious weather as we hiked the 6 mile 'moderately strenuous' Dew Mound Trail from the Eagle River Nature Centre. A great mixture of woodland and riverside views and the moderately strenuous description was pretty accurate. It was a good stretch of the legs. Surprisingly, it took a good four and a bit hours to complete which suggests that we took plenty of time to 'stop and stare'. No bears, no moose and, more importantly, no mosquitoes.

And after this, Mrs P joined some other ladies to arrange the flowers for the wedding in the church. A good time was had by all.

In answer to that age old question "do bears poo in the woods?". Yes, they do. And this looked like a fresh pile.

Given the aforementioned fresh pile of droppings, we redoubled our bear deterrent measures. Here is Mrs P demonstrating her stick waving procedure. If that did not work, step 2 involved the bear spray. And if that did not work, we had the ultimate deterrent ready - singing 'God save the Queen'. Bears, moose, British republicans, all stampeded from the woods when Mrs P struck up the National Anthem. I was halfway back to Anchorage before I'd realised what was happening and had to return with my tail between my legs.

There were lots and lots of these fluttering on the edges of the woodland. After our previous walk I had identified them as European Swallowtails, Duh. They are, more correctly, Canadian Tiger Swallowtails.

The adults  emerge at the end of May/early June which was very convenient for our visit. The adults feed on nectar whilst the caterpillars feed on birch leaves, of which there is an abundance in these parts.

Looking up the Eagle River, across the gravel beds, towards mountains in the Shugach Range.

Looking across Dew Mound Lake, the highest and halfway point of our hike. Secluded and tranquil.

Six of the eight ducklings trailing behind a male Teal. I just could not get them to cooperate and cluster together so I could get a good shot of all of them.

Alaskan Journal Part 11

A day of culture and celebration. Culture when we visited the Native Alaskan Heritage Centre for a few hours. Celebration when we joined our friends of 35 years for their 40th Wedding Anniversary, which coincides with their son's wedding over here.

The Native Alaskan Heritage Centre was a fascinating place as it enabled us to learn more about the Native Alaskan peoples and their customs and to put their present position in Alaskan society into context. It's not all eskimoes and igloos: in fact it's never eskimoes and igloos. Taking the long view, it's a tale of colonisation, the possessed becoming the dispossessed, the haves becoming the have-nots. It's a tale of cultural desecration and partial cultural resurgence. We've read this sort of scenario so often in other countries and with other cultures. Sadly, it's what we white people/Brits do. I/we do get angry at the injustice of it all.

After the doom and gloom of cultural repression, we had an evening of liberated fun with around 40 people in a hotel on the outskirts of Anchorage. An interesting place as it was directly under the landing path of float planes on a neighbouring lake. Every few minutes something flew in with a splash or flew out with water dripping off the floats: an out-of-the-ordinary scene.

Native Alaskans doing a Native Alaskan dance with Native Alaskan insouciance. I probably should have been more impressed than I was.

Forget the detail on this poster. Just concentrate on the patterns and colours. These represent the many languages and 'tribes' of Native Alaskans. I didn't know about these.

The representative dwellings in the centre were all variants of a theme: underground or built up with soil for insulation.

The business end of a smokehouse. Photograph taken as a design reminder for future use.

A collection of husky dogs. Forget Hollywood's depiction of woolly bundles. These are slim working dogs. A very animated dog-handler gave us a chat about their treatment and what they do. They all seemed pretty relaxed and enjoying the sunshine.

Some of the tribes have a tradition of carving totem poles replete with symbolism. And, no, I don't know what this one means.

And a detail from another. The God of Depilation?

White-crowned sparrow.

It may be small but once it threw its head back and swelled its chest, it really belted out its song.

Some of the celebrants at the anniversary meal.

The Harry Laws Memorial Joke: "These must have been running at a hell of a speed when they hit the wall". RIP Harry Laws.

Alaskan Journal Part 10

Today's jaunt took us south of Anchorage on a 60 mile drive to Whittier. Our route took us to the top of the Turnagain Arm (spectacular coastal scenery all the way) and then up through Portage Pass, passed Portage Lake and then through a 2.6 mile tunnel to emerge about half a mile from Whittier. The interesting think about Whittier is that it really didn't exist until 1941 when the US army decided to build an extensive military base there. As part of this, they built the tunnel for the railway to get things to and from the port they built. The tunnel was exclusively for train use until relatively recently and now it allows both trains and cars etc through. Obviously not at the same time as it is single track. There is a tight time tabling system allowing access by one or the other. Driving through the tunnel is an interesting experience as I've never driven a car in such a straight line for so long. Whittier is an interesting one-off place and well worth visiting. We enjoyed it.

The entrance to the tunnel. It is tall and narrow, not that much wider than a single track road. It is dead straight, which makes holding a line more difficult than you might imagine.

Once through the tunnel, almost immediately you are in Whittier harbour. It's the base for lots of fishing trips in the Prince William Sound and is a terminal for the Alaska Marine Highway, which is a ferry that links a string of towns/villages in the Sound, some of which are inaccessible by road.

Now here's the most unusual thing about Whittier. When the army moved out in around 1960, it knocked down a lot of its buildings but a few remain. Some are used as municipal facilities, one is a hotel/museum but the old troop accommodation block now houses most of the residents of Whittier (population 217 in 2014). Imagine that, a whole village under one roof. The mind boggles. No room for disputes between neighbours, eh? The school is attached to the building via a tunnel which means that students don't have to brave the Alaska winter to get to school.

Just liked the directness of this - Mutt Mitt. It does what it says on the holder.

The tunnel giving pedestrian access from the ex-army zone to the harbour. We used it to go to the Whittier Museum which dealt mainly with WW2 and the campaign against the Japanese in the Aleutian Islands. An episode that we knew very little about but we know a little bit more now.

Luckily no tsunamis when we visited. We didn't realise how often Alaskans feel the ground move.

 

This snow moving machine makes our road salters in Cornwall look rather weak by comparison. This is a serious toy for the boys.

The view across Portage Lake to Portage Glacier.

On the way back we hiked the mile or so to the Byron Glacier, alongside Byron Creek all the way. Not a very spectacular glacier but it was interesting to get up close to one.

Looking further up the Byron Valley. Look closely and you can see the sun glistening on the melting ice.

Looking down the valley and a feeble attempt to capture clouds passing over the snow fields. What was I saying about the inability of the camera to capture what is really going on in front of you.