Family :

Service Life:

Campaigns:

• The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.

The Royal Navy had blockaded Germany at the start of World War I. Having completed her voyage to New York on 24 April, the Lusitania left the Cunard berth at Pier 54 just after midday on 1 May 1915 on the return voyage to Liverpool. When RMS Lusitania left New York for Britain, German submarine warfare was intensifying in the Atlantic. Germany had declared the seas around the United Kingdom a war zone, and the German embassy in the United States had placed a newspaper advertisement warning people of the dangers of sailing on Lusitania.

Six days later, on the afternoon of 7 May the German U-boat U-20, captained by Kapitaenleutnant Walther Schwieger torpedoed Lusitania, 11 mi (18 km) off the southern coast of Ireland and inside the declared war zone. A second, unexplained, internal explosion sent her to the seabed in 18 minutes, with the deaths of 1,198 passengers, including almost a hundred children, and crew.

Because the Germans sank, without warning, what was officially a non-military ship, many accused them of breaching the internationally recognised Cruiser Rules. It was no longer possible for submarines to give warning due to the British introduction of Q-ships in 1915 with concealed deck guns. (Lusitania had been fitted with 6-inch gun mounts in 1913, although she was unarmed at the time of her sinking.) [Wikipedia]

Detail :

DAVIES, Fred : Crew: ship’s printer, Cunard Daily Bulletin. (Hickey/Smith, page 118) Died.

Extract from See also: Liverpool Museums Website :

"He was a printer, by profession, and in that capacity, decided to serve at sea in the Mercantile Marine. As a result, he joined The Cunard Steam Ship Company and was employed as one of the two compositors or printers on board the Lusitania. The other one was Frederick Davies, who came from Newport, Monmouthshire. Printer Mitchell engaged at Liverpool, on 12th April 1915 for the steamer’s final voyage and joined her at 7 a.m. on the 17th April. before she left the River Mersey for the very last time. As a printer, his monthly rate of pay was £7-10s-0d., (£7.50p.).

Although Printer Davies was killed as a result of the sinking, George Mitchell survived and later picked up £6-11s-0d. (£6.55p), which was the balance of wages owing to him on his official discharge from the liner’s last voyage. The Cunard Steam Ship Company paid wages up to and including 8th May 1915, (24 hours after the sinking), to all crew members, whether they survived or perished."

Masonic :

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