Genealogy Chat

I have been looking into details of a family member who lost his life on the HMS Arethusa. His was such a sad story, he was married just 24 hours before he went into service - and then never came home again. I have been trawling around trying to find more about him and came across hms(-)arethusa(.)co(.)uk (remove brackets obviously). Very moving site, some wonderful photos and - this is where the need for tissues arose - accounts from surviving veterans including one account of the burial at sea. Cried buckets, just kept thinking of Great Uncle Ronnie, and all those young men, and also the young childhood sweetheart who never saw her husband again after their wedding ceremony. A site worth a look for anyone else with relatives who served on the Arethusa - survivors or otherwise. It's so strange how involved in their stories you become as you search isnt it? I never met this great uncle, he died many years before I was born, but I feel so moved by his plight Hope this is of some interest to some one else - dont like crying alone! Helen x x x

Hi Helen, What a sad story. It's amazing what you can find isn't it? Off to have a read. Linda

Hi Linda He is commemorated at the back of the local church - and I always make a point of dragging my children back there and pointing him out and telling them who he is. It just seems really important that he should 'belong' to somebody! Although he came from a large family there is only one sibling left now - it is so scarey how soon information can be lost in a family. Currently engaged in bullying parents into writing names and dates on photos and trying to record anecdotes they know - like the fact that g grandad was referred to locally as The Count - because he always wore spats! Poshest coal miner around by the sounds of it. Helen x x x

Helen you're not crying alone, that was such a moving site. I have a Grt Grt Grandfather who was apparently known locally as the Duke of Dover because he always sold bread and cakes from his stall wearing a Top Hat, it's things like that which bring them 'alive'.

Dover Sue The Count and the Duke -ooh, get us! Sadly no real titled rellies turning up - oh has a claim to the first welsh arch bishop (for real) but my mob all worked in mills and down pits. All cloth caps and whippets for me I'm afraid! Those photos were amazing though werent they - I just keep imagining how terrible it must have been for them when the torpedo struck - that great big gaping hole - how on earth did they get her to shore? Then you see the crew and they look like they should be on their way to school - not war, such babies they were. Couldnt cope with the young bugler bit though - had to bravely run away and find another box of tissues. Helen x x

Hello Helen That was a very touching site. What a sad story too. I had a young uncle I never met who was torpedoed on Ther Empress of Britain when it was carrying explosives during WW2, only 21 years old. They never had a chance at life did they? It is amazing how they become real people when you find these websites and read about their experiences isn't it?

That's what makes it all so addictive isnt it though? You find the birth, marriage and death records - and there is a great sense of satisfaction - each one is a little victory in its own right - but to see images, to have faces to put to the names, to find out about their experiences - that is something else altogether. My Dad has just recently produced newspaper clippings detailing one set of great-great-grandparents celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary! The family kept it because it was out of the ordinary for it to be in the papers. They look so solemn and stern, frowning at the camera. Report mentions 27 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren at the time - no rest for the wicked then, plenty of new people for me to track down. I may never leave the house again! Also had cards from Great Uncle Ronnie - and the official notification of his death - I get increasingly frantic that these things be preserved and my children can have a real sense of who they are and the people they came from. Helenx x x