H.M.T. G 8? Torpedoed March,1917

[dumdum]

Incredible what is around if you know where to look!

Well, I'm going with "James" for the "J". Any common names beginning with "H" from the area, Mike?

[SemperFi]

Brilliant work, Mike! DumDum, try James Hare. I did a free search on Ancestry using Caledonia and he popped up. I don’t subscribe to Ancestry so that’s as far as I could go.

[mike_vee]

Originally Posted by dumdum

Incredible what is around if you know where to look!

Well, I'm going with "James" for the "J". Any common names beginning with "H" from the area, Mike?

If you look at the 1915 crew lists the majority were born in either Newhaven or Leith , these are two areas of Edinburgh along the shoreline (of the Firth of Forth) from Granton and had long established "fishing communities".

The list of "Granton" trawlermen I found contained 3 named James/Jim/Jimmy and 7 named John .

NB. Jock is a Scottish diminutive form of the forename "John"; it corresponds to Jack in England and Wales. It is also a nickname for someone of Scottish origin. When I left the Royal Artillery I was given a plaque inscribed to "Jock" (rather than Mike/Michael) as that was the name I was known by.

From the "Granton" list

James/Jim/Jimmy:

Hall
Herd
Hickman

John:

Hackland
Henry
Hall
Halliwell
Herriot
Home
Hoy

Out of the above list Hoy was a common family name in the area with families living there from at least their grand parents era.

PS. One problem I foresee is that the "trawlermen" may not have been Royal Navy or Merchant seamen so would not be listed on 'official' naval lists.

From the Uboat site :
"Listed as hired by the Royal Navy but not (yet?) a commissioned vessel; possibly en route for conversion into a Q-ship" , so it's possible/probable that the crew were civilian ?

.

[mike_vee]

Originally Posted by SemperFi

try James Hare. I did a free search on Ancestry using Caledonia and he popped up.

James Hare doesn't appear to the 1915 crew lists or the "Granton" list but a lot of the trawlermen may have also served on other vessels as well or may have (at some point) enlisted in the service.

Also , as you pointed out , there were at least 2 other "Caledonia's" around at the same time so it will definitely need Sherlock Holmes to solve this puzzle.

PS. Another coincidence :
"Conan Doyle repeatedly said that Holmes was inspired by the real-life figure of Joseph Bell, a surgeon at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh"

I trained at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh !

.

[dumdum]

Hi Mike and others

I do hope that our other members are getting just as much of a thrill out of this as I am.

Again a sincere thank you!