Peterborough & The Great War

Biography

Henry was born in Pakefield, near Lowestoft in 1884.  His father Arthur was a publican and builder and Henry was brought up in the Prince of Wales Public House on London Road, near Lowestoft.  In 1901, Arthur was listed in the census as a stone mason, still living with his family at the Prince of Wales.

Henry’s father died in early 1902, and his mother Caroline subsequently remarried in December of that year.  In the 1911 census Henry was recorded as a boarder in Morton Road, Kirkley, Lowestoft along with his youngest brother and sister, Fred (13) and Hilda (16).  He was listed as a fisherman.

Henry Stone was serving with the Royal Navy Reserve in 1916, aboard the Steam Drifter ‘Newark Castle’, (a type of fishing vessel using drift nets). The vessel was sunk on 6 July 1916, around 23 miles SE of the river Tyne by the German U-Boat U23, under command of Oberlieutnant zur See Ernst Voigt.  The crew of the “Newark Castle” were rescued by a British submarine and landed in Blyth six hours later. http://uboat.net/wwi/ships_hit/4372.html

Henry Stone and the other crew members passed through Peterborough East Station on 8 July 1916, and wrote two detailed accounts of the attacks in the visitors’ books.  In a three day patrol, the U-Boat sank eight British vessels of similar size.  In all attacks, the submarine captured the vessels and allowed the crews to disembark before sinking the vessels with bombs.

U-Boats under the command of Oberlieutnant zur See Ernst Voigt, sank 80 ships.  Voigt, who was highly decorated, which included the Iron Cross 1^st class, died on 25 August 1917 when his submarine hit a mine in the Straits of Dover. http://uboat.net/wwi/men/commanders/377.html

Henry married Edith Alexander in Blything in 1915.  In 1939, Henry and Edith are living at 58 Queens Road, Lowestoft with his occupation described as ‘light duties’.  In 1935, he was named as an executor, along with younger brother Bertie, in their mother’s will.  She died in Lowestoft, leaving nearly £1,500; a substantial figure for this date.  The brothers were both fisherman at this time.

Please get in touch if you can tell us more about Henry.