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The War Memorial in Moy. Three Bradley brothers died in World War 1 including Fred who is most likely Northern Ireland’s first submariner to be lost
More insight on Northern Ireland’s first submariner loss
Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance
Brave Report
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Frederick Elkin Bradley was born on 09/11/1884, one of eleven children born to William and Jane Bradley. Although his parents were both born in Co. Tyrone, work brought them first to Co Donegal and then to the city of Londonderry.
In an earlier issue of Brave Report on the rich and varied service given in the Royal Navy by men from Dungannon and Moy, the loss of 29 year old Fred Bailey in HM Submarine D5 on 03/11/1914 was highlighted. He is most likely Northern Ireland’s first submariner loss. Further research on his family’s costly service to our country and on the engagement in which Fred lost his life has been completed and is presented below.
The Bradley family
Frederick Elkin Bradley was born on 09/11/1884, one of eleven children born to William and Jane Bradley. Although his parents were both born in Co. Tyrone, work brought them first to Co Donegal and then to the city of Londonderry.
William had originally served in the Royal Irish Constabulary. At that time a police officer was not Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance
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�Period postcard of Moy War Memorial
permitted to work in their own county, which appears to explain why the family have moved from Co. Tyrone. At least seven of the children, including Fred, were born in Co Donegal, and the two youngest were born in Londonderry, where by this time William was employed as a tram driver. By 1911 William has retired and living in the townland of Corr and Dunavally, approximately half a mile outside the village of Charlemont, Co. Armagh.
By the time of the 1901 census Fred has left school and was employed as a coach builder. However, the family details on the
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Commonwealth War Graves Commission records state that he also served in the South African War (The Boer War). His army records for this period have not been traced. As this war ended in 1901 it would appear he enlisted at about the time of the census.
When he left the Army he enlisted in Devonport into the Royal Navy on 04/12/1902. His enlistment was for the period of twelve years. When he died on 03/11/1914 he had served for eleven years and eleven months. Over the years he served as a stoker on a number of ships. He served in HMS Hyacinth in the Somali Expedition. By January 1914 he was serving on the HMS Adamant, a depot ship serving the submarines. During this time he appears to have moved to the submarine D5.
HMS D5 was a British D class submarine built by Vickers, Barrow. D5 was laid down on 23/2/1910, launched 28/08/1911 and was commissioned 19/02/1911. Eye witness account of the sinking
Final patrol: During 1914 Harwich played host to the 8th Submarine Flotilla. On 3rd November Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance
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1914 the hit and run raid by the German High Seas Fleet was to witness a pursuit that would lead to the destruction of D5.
On this day, ships of His Imperial German Majesty’s Navy (the Kaiserliche Deutsche Marine) bombarded the British coast around Yarmouth. The enemy warships were the First and Second Scouting Group and included the battle cruisers SMS Von der Tann (Kapitän zur See Han, Flag of KA Tapken), SMS Moltke (Kptn.z.S. von Levetzow), SMS Blucher(Freggattenkäpitan Erdmann), and Seydlitz, (Kapitän zur See von Egidy, Flag of Konteradmiral Franz Hipper) in the First Group. The Second Scouting Group was comprised of the SMS Stralsund (Kptn.z.S. Harder), Strassburg (F.k. Retzman), Graudenz (F.k. Pullen) and SMS Kolberg (Kplt.z.S. Widenmann).
The Stralsund also laid a line of 100-mines five miles long off Smith’s Knoll Passage. The bombardment, which was very heavy and aimed at the civilian population, was rather ineffective, due to the misty weather and only a few shells landed on the beaches at Gorleston.
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�Fred Bradley of Moy was lost in HMS D5. Two of his brothers were also killed in World War 1
The German warships approached and fired on the torpedo-gun-boat Halcyon. In response, the submarines D3, E10 and D5 - the latter being under the command of Lt.Cdr. Godfrey Herbert, were ordered out into the roadstead to intercept the enemy fleet. (Herbert had previously been the skipper of A4 when she narrowly escaped destruction during underwater signalling experiments.
Cdr. Turner DSO in D3 witnessed events as they unfolded:
“I was woken at daylight by gunfire and found on arrival at the conning tower, that a German squadron was bombarding Yarmouth. We were
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ordered out to our patrol areas, E18 to the Skagerrak, D5 and D3 to the Bight.
“I used to sleep under an umbrella” - sub commanding officer
“The D Class had no lining inside the hull and moisture condensed on the hull and made things pretty damp. I used to sleep under an umbrella, which prevented the drips falling on my head! There was no comfort and little facility for cooking beyond electric kettles and hot plates. The only navigation facility was a magnetic compass with a reflector tube for the helmsman below. On deck we used a boat’s compass, which had to be passed down when diving, and was rarely used away from the English coast. “Anyway on leaving harbour, E18 steered a northerly course, while D3 and D5 proceeded eastwards. On clearing the shoals, I was leading D5 half a mile astern of me. We met the returning fishing fleet. They were waving and sounding their horns and calling out ‘Mines, Mines Everywhere’.
“I altered course to northward and I watched D5 put her helm over to follow suit. As she did so, a Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance
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mine exploded aft. There was a cloud of black smoke and the boat had simply disappeared. The explosion was bad enough to unseat the master Kingston-valve on my port side. The saddle tanks flooded and D3 took on a dangerous list. As a drifter had immediately closed the position where D5 had gone down, I got all my crew on deck - less the minimum needed to operate the boat - and proceeded to clear the minefield”.
The explosion had occurred two miles south of South Cross Sand Buoy, off Yarmouth, possibly the result of striking a loose British mine.
“On returning to harbour and going alongside, to my surprise there was ‘Bertie’ Herbert in a fisherman’s gansey. He and five others had been picked up, his coxswain having been shot out of the tower and, although insensible, kept afloat by the air trapped in his oilskin coat”.
Captain Herbert and five of his crew were rescued. The crew of the drifter Faithful skippered by James Collin had bravely moved in and picked up four survivors: Lt. Cdr. Godfrey Herbert, Sub-Lt. Ian Macintyre, CPO Robert Speirs and AB Charles Sexton. AB Suttill, who
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was from Leeds, was picked up by a local fishing smack, later.
Captain Herbert’s coxswain having been shot out of the tower and, although insensible, was kept afloat by the air trapped in his oilskin coat, he recalls.
“I remember being able to kick off my seaboots, which were always 4 sizes too big, just in case of emergencies. Realising that I was to have a long swim I managed to get rid of my coat and trousers and finally had to jettison a pair of good Zeiss glasses. I now found myself surrounded by a dozen members of my crew. Most were beginning to feel the strain of keeping afloat. First one then another would throw up his hands and go down. For some minutes I held onto one of the stokers who was close to me, urging him to keep going but he got heavier and heavier until seeing that we should both go under I had to release my hold of him...to have been shipmates with these men, to have known them all so well and now to see them die, was terrible beyond words...It would be impossible to describe the loss I felt at the deaths of such a wonderful crew: they were the finest who ever manned a submarine… Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance
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“Some way off I could see the funnel of a herring drifter. Fortunately the skipper had witnessed the explosion and sailed straight into the minefield to haul us on board...CPO Speirs was half dead. We were succeeding in bringing back to life when he suddenly spewed his guts out. He opened his eyes, fixed them on me. He jumped up and tried to punch me yelling ‘Get off me you effing Hun’!”
For his display of gallantry, the master of Faithful was awarded £97, which he shared with his crew. Sadly twenty-one of D5’s crew Including Frederick Elkin Bradley,went down with the boat. This was destined to be just the second of many brushes with danger for Godfrey Herbert in the course of his astonishing wartime career.
Four Bradley brothers served - three were fatalities
Unfortunately the family would suffer further losses. Three of Fred Bradley’s younger brothers would go on to serve, and two would die in action.
Roland Bradley enlisted into the army and served with the North Irish Horse. He died on the
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20/05/1917 and is buried at Hazebrouck Communal cemetery, France.
�The names of the Bradley brothers on Moy War Memorial
Two brothers (and at least one sister – Annie) had emigrated to Calgary in Canada, and the two brothers later enlisted into the Canadian infantry. Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance
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Albert James Bradley, who before leaving Ireland had served in the Inniskilling Fusiliers, enlisted in Ottawa on 20/08/1914, within weeks of war being declared, and served in Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. He was severely injured in France and discharged from the Services due to the severity of his injuries.
Francis Henry Bradley, who was employed by a local surveyor enlisted in Victoria on 05/11/1914, two days after Fred was killed. He would go on to serve with the 15th Battalion of the Canadian Infantry (Central Ontario Regiment). On Easter Monday 09/04/1917, they were involved in the attack on Vimy Ridge, just north of the town of Arras. Francis died during this attack, and is buried in Nine Elms Military Cemetery
The three brothers are recorded on the War Memorial in the village of Moy, Co Tyrone. Moy and Charlemont are joint villages separated by the River Blackwater, with Moy being in Co. Tyrone, and Charlemont in Co Armagh.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTSSilent Warriors Vol 1, by Ron Young and Pamela Armstrong. Memoirs of Cdr. Turner reproduced by kind permission of the RN Submarine Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance
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Museum. Friends of The Somme, Mid-Ulster Branch web site.
HELP REQUESTEDPlease send names of Ex RN/RM/WRNS who served in either of the world wars. Further details also appreciated.
CIRCULATION - Please share ‘Brave Report’ with your former service colleagues - and we will post direct to them if they simply send an e-mail to: [email protected], placing Brave Report in the message bar, and give their name and former arm of service, and if they are members of the RNA or RBL, having knowledge of their branch would be appreciated. There are specific areas where we need information from!
PUBLICATION NOTES
Please note all the material in Brave Report is copyright.
Brave Report is collated and published by The Very Rev. Dr Houston McKelvey, OBE QVRM TD.
Dr McKelvey served as chaplain for 29 years with 102/105 (Ulster & Scottish) Regiment, Royal Artillery TA; for 20 years as Chaplain to the RBL - Northern Ireland Area, and for a period as chaplain to the Belfast Branch of the Burma Star Association. He was involved in the life of HMS Caroline and HMS Hibernia.He was appointed an Honorary Chaplain to the RNR. He is a Past President of QUB Combined Services Club.
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Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance
