Commemorated: | |||
| 1. Memorial: | Plymouth Naval Memorial, Devon | ||
| 2. Book: | The (1921) Masonic Roll of Honour 1914-1918 | Pg.137 | |
| 3. Memorial: | The (1940) Scroll - WW1 Roll of Honour | 10D GQS | |
Awards & Titles: | |||
Family :
Husband of Minnie Townrow, of 46, Havelock Rd., Gravesend, Kent.Service Life:
Campaigns:
- The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.
| Unit / Ship / Est.: HMS India |
"Torpedoed on August 8th 1915, off the island of Bodo, West Norway. Because she was an ex-cruiser of the P & O Line operating on the England-Australia run, she was commandeered by the British admiralty, fitted with guns, and was used as an Armed Merchant Cruiser (AMC). She operated as such until the fated day when she was sunk by the German U-Boat 'U-22"" (captained by Kapitan Hoppe) only 2 1/2 miles off of the Norwegian coast, as stated above. This was seen by the world at the time as an act of German gross mis-conduct, as she was within Norwegian waters, and not international. Out of a total number of 32 Officers and 269 crew, 10 Officers and 150 men were lost. The survivors were picked up by HM Armed Trawler 'Saxon'. On 21 January 1915 Lieutenant-Commander Bruno Hoppe had an unpleasant experience off the coast of the Netherlands when he sighted another U-boat in the fog - and fired a torpedo at it. The U-boat sank with all hands. It was later discovered to be the German U-boat U7. This was the first and last time a German U-boat sank one of its sister ships. Another sad irony of this accident was that the commander of U7, Georg K?nig, was Hoppe's best friend. It was after this tragic incident that Hoppe was transferred to the Baltic Sea. " |
| Action : Naval Campaign |
Naval Campaign is defined as to include all sea operations where attrition rates are in ones and twos and which do not fall within specific naval battles such as Jutland, Coronel, Falklands etc. This includes Merchant Navy losses.
Detail :
HMS India was torpedoed on August 8th 1915, off the island of Bodo, West Norway. She was an ex-cruiser of the P & O Line operating on the England-Australia run, and was commandeered by the British admiralty, fitted with guns, and was used as an Armed Merchant Cruiser (AMC). She operated as such until the fated day when she was sunk by the German U-Boat U-22 (captained by Kapitan Hoppe) only 2.5 miles off of the Norwegian coast, as stated above. This was seen by the world at the time as an act of German gross mis-conduct, as she was within Norwegian waters, and not international. Out of a total number of 32 Officers and 269 crew, 10 Officers and 150 men were lost. The survivors were picked up by HM Armed Trawler 'Saxon'. Wilfred TOWNROW was one of the men who were lost. On 21 January 1915 Lieutenant-Commander Bruno Hoppe had an unpleasant experience off the coast of the Netherlands when he sighted another U-boat in the fog - and fired a torpedo at it. The U-boat sank with all hands. It was later discovered to be the German U-boat U7. This was the first and last time a German U-boat sank one of its sister ships. Another sad irony of this accident was that the commander of U7, Georg K?nig, was Hoppe's best friend. It was after this tragic incident that Hoppe was transferred to the Baltic Sea. Also lost onHMS India was Lieutenant Sydney CLARK, Freemason of Fawcett Lodge No. 661
Masonic :
| Type | Lodge Name and No. | Province/District : |
|---|---|---|
| Mother : | Lodge of Sympathy No. 483 E.C. | East Kent |
Initiated | Passed | Raised |
9th October 1895 | - | - |
Joined from Lodge 135, N.S.W. Known as John Townrow in the records of the Lodge at the United Grand Lodge of England, which also shows "Drowned in HMS India Aug /15"
Source :
The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:
- The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
- The (UK) National Archives
- Ancestry.co.uk - Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History online
- ugle.org.uk - The records of the United Grand Lodge of England including the Library and Museum of Freemasonry
Additional Source:
- Founder Researchers : Paul Masters & Mike McCarthy
- Researcher : Bruce Littley