Commemorated: | |||
| 1. Memorial: | Portsmouth Naval Memorial | 15 Hampshire | |
| 2. Book: | The (1921) Masonic Roll of Honour 1914-1918 | Pg.118 | |
| 3. Memorial: | The (1940) Scroll - WW1 Roll of Honour | 44B GQS | |
Awards & Titles: | |||
Family :
Son of William and Annie Castle, of 89, Ryecroft St., Gloucester; husband of Lydia Gwyther (formerly Castle), of 180, Queen's Rd., Buckland, Portsmouth.Service Life:
Campaigns:
- The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.
| Unit / Ship / Est.: HMS Queen Mary |
Steaming in advance of Admiral Sir John Jellicoe's Grand Fleet, Beatty's battlecruisers, supported by the battleships of the 5th Battle Squadron, collided with Vice Admiral Franz Hipper's battlecruisers in the opening phases of the Battle of Jutland. Engaging at 3:48 PM on May 31, the German fire proved accurate from the outset. At 3:50 PM, Queen Mary opened fire on SMS Seydlitz with its forward turrets.As Beatty closed the range, Queen Mary scored two hits on its opponent and disabled one of Seydlitz's aft turrets. Around 4:15, HMS Lion came under intense fire from Hipper's ships. The smoke from this obscured HMS Princess Royal forcing SMS Derfflinger to shift its fire to Queen Mary. As this new enemy engaged, the British ship continued to trade hits with Seydlitz. At 4:26 PM, a shell from Derfflinger struck Queen Mary detonating one or both of its forward magazines. The resulting explosion broke the battlecruiser in half near its foremast. A second shell from Derfflinger may have hit further aft. As the after part of the ship began to roll, it was rocked by a large explosion before sinking. Of Queen Mary's crew, 1,266 were lost while only twenty were rescued. Though Jutland resulted in a strategic victory for the British, it saw two battlecruisers, HMS Indefatigable and Queen Mary, lost with nearly all hands. An investigation into the losses led to changes in ammunition handling aboard British ships as the report showed that cordite handling practices may have contributed to the loss of the two battlecruisers |
| Action : Jutland |
The Battle of Jutland was the largest naval battle of World War I, and the only full-scale clash of battleships in that war. It is considered to be the largest conventional naval battle in history. It was fought on 31 May - 1 June 1916, in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. The combatants were the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet, commanded by Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer, and the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet, commanded by Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. The German fleet's intention was to lure out, trap and destroy a portion of the Grand Fleet, as the German numbers were insufficient to engage the entire British fleet at one time. This formed part of a larger strategy to break the British blockade of the North Sea and to allow German mercantile shipping to operate. Meanwhile, the Royal Navy pursued a strategy to engage and destroy the High Seas Fleet, or keep the German force bottled up and away from Britain's own shipping lanes. Considered a tactical victory for the Germans but a resounding strategic victory for the British.
Detail :
Birmingham Daily Gazett 10th June 1916 - BELIEVED TO BE DEAD - After having participated in the naval engagement at Jutland, Stoker John Ladkin walked into his home at Earl Shilton and gave his parents a pleasant surprise. His parents believed that he had gone down with his ship, a torpedo-boat destroyer. His box, containing all his belongings, is at the bottom of the sea. - It is feared that Seaman Arthur Clarke, whose home is at Earl Shilton is one of the victims of H.M.S. Queen Mary. His parents have been notified that his is missing. - Among the los on H.M.S. Queen Mary in the North Sea battle on 31 May, was Chief Petty Officer Arthur Castle, the youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. Castle, Purton Villa, Ryecroft Street, Gloucester.
Gloucester Journal 10th June 1916 - GLOUCESTRIAN LOST ON THE QUEEN MARY. - Chief Petty Officer Arthur Castle, who lost his life on H.M.S. Queen Mary, was the youngest son of Mrs Castle, Purton Villa, Ryecroft-street, Gloucester. He served his apprenticeship with Messrs. Summers and Scott of this city. At the time of the great engineers' strike about twenty years ago Mr. Castle entered the Royal Navy as engine-room artificer, subsequently serving on the Mediterranean, Australian and Cape of Good Hope stations. He was one of the escort to H.M. the King (then Prince of Wales) on the occasion of his visit to the Antipodes on s.s. Ophir. On the commissioning of H.M.S. Queen Mary in 1913 he was promoted C.P.O,, and posted that that ship as C.E.R.A., serving in her till she met her gallant fate on the 31st May. From two years prior to 1913 deceased was technical instructor in the Naval School at Portsmouth on the use of oil fuel.
Masonic :
| Type | Lodge Name and No. | Province/District : |
|---|---|---|
| Mother : | Royal Naval No. 2761 E.C. | Somerset |
Initiated | Passed | Raised |
24th February 1904 | 8th March 1904 | 9th July 1904 |
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