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AB George Arthur Gander World Naval Ships Forums Archive

AB George Arthur Gander

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Able Seaman George Arthur Gander -191637- was serving aboard HMS Foyle, a River Class Destroyer when she hit a mine whilst on patrol in the Dover Straits on 15th March 1917. The force of the explosion blew away the whole of her bows forward of the bridge, killing twenty-seven of her crew including George. His body was not recovered. His wife Rose of Gillingham, Kent was notified of his death. [ATTACH]124001[/ATTACH]
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Mark , i find this to be an interesting picture , i see a lot of character in his face, i also wonder if he is wearing a Guernsey under his top , do you have any more information on him Nigel

Not really tbh, this picture was unidentified until this morning when I solved two mysteries in one. My mum has a WWI death plaque with his name on which came from her Uncle's house and she knew that said uncle married Vera Gander so the connection was obvious. However we didn't know in what service he died or anything whatsoever about him. Mum also had a collection of photo's collated from several sources and this photo was one we couldn't identify except that there is another (almost identical) one in very bad condition with barely legible writing on the back. So this morning I searched his name among soldiers that died in WWI and it came back with no exact matches, so then I tried Navy losses and bingo! Then I remembered the photo and sure enough I could make out G A Gan. Also when compared to a picture of his daughter Vera I was happy to say I'm 95% certain. So I thought it was fitting that he should be remembered by someone even though I know so little. He was born in Brighton in 1881, married Rose I Chambers in 1912 and Vera was born in 1913.

An article included in the Hellingly Parish Council Newsletter Spring 2009 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [B]Hellingly war memorial—They gave their lives today for our tomorrow[/B] When I first saw the war memorial at Hellingly I have to say I was disappointed to see a memorial which at first sight looked like the top had been cut off perhaps in a storm. However, when I looked into this theory I found that it had been designed with the top cut off and slanted and the meaning behind it was it signified the youth of WWI having been killed in its prime while serving the country at war. These War Memorials which can be found all over the UK were of course erected after WWI and the names put on it were for the men killed in that war. This of course was supposed to be the war to end all wars but within 21 years of that war ending we were again at war with Germany and so after WWII the names of the men who lived in the area of the memorial who were killed in the second World War were added. The one thing one notices in the details concerning each man whose name is on the memorial are their ages. In WWI as opposed to WWII older men were called to fight in the front line where as in WWII the ages were staggeringly young. To pick out a few of the backgrounds to the men on the Hellingly Memorial for both wars we have the following; Able Seaman Reginald Evenden from Horsebridge was serving in the Royal Navy on HMS Recruit (a minesweeper) when on the 9 August 1917 it hit a German mine in the North Sea and he was lost. He was 23 and has no known grave . [B]George Gander was serving on HMS Foyle (a Torpedo Boat) when on the 15 March 1917 the ship also hit a mine and 27 of the crew including George were lost. [U]His name is recorded on the Naval Memorial in Chatham[/U].[/B] William and Elizabeth Miller of Hawkswood, Hailsham lost two sons in WWI. Alfred was 23 when killed serving with the Royal Horse Artillery on the 1 September 1914. He is now buried in France and his brother George aged 35 was killed on the 25 September 1918 when serving with the Middlesex Regiment. It’s interesting to see that the younger of the two brothers was killed so early in the war and his brother went right through to 1918 and nearly survived to its end. Many of the men on the memorial were killed on the Western Front while serving with the Royal Sussex Regiment. In WWII Alfred James also of Hawkswood, Hailsham joined the Royal Navy in 1940 as a cook - his trade in civilian life was a baker. On the 24 May 1941 he was serving on H.M.S. Hood when it came into conflict with the German battleship Bismark. In the confrontation one of the shells fired by the German ship hit the magazine on the Hood and she blew up. Out of a crew of 1400 only three men survived. His name is recorded on the Naval Memorial at Portsmouth. He was 29. Frank Tidmas was serving in Bomber Command of the RAF and flew in the crew of a Lancaster bomber. On 30 January 1944 during the Battle of Berlin his aircraft Lancaster ED 364-Q was lost over Berlin. He came from Horsebridge. His name is recorded on the Runneymede Memorial near Windsor in which there are 20,000 names of airmen and air women who do not have a grave. He was 31 and would have been known as Daddy by the crew. Lastly Reginald Verrall was serving in the Royal Navy as a Stoker, he was only 19 and also came from Horsebridge. His ship the, cruiser H.M.S Curacoa was, on the 2 October 1942, escorting the former famous liner and then troopship the Queen Mary, getting too near the liner which at the time was at full speed. It crossed the line and was cut in two with a loss of 338 men including Reginald. The rule then given to the Captains of troopships probably carrying some 2,000 US troops was not to stop in any circumstances. I have been on the former liner now based in Los Angeles and they have a section of the ship devoted to its wartime service and includes the sad demise of the Curacoa. So when you walk past the Hellingly Memorial perhaps stop and look at the names. There are 36 for WWI and 19 for WWII. Alan Cooper ............................................................... source [URL="http://www.hellingly-pc.org.uk/newsletters/2009april(web).pdf"]Hellingly Parish Council[/URL] Little h

Confirmation of the Chatham Memorial inscription from a different site. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [B]Casualties listed with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission[/B] GANDER & GANDAR [B]United Kingdom[/B] Brighton (Lewes and Bear Road) Borough Cemetery: GANDER. Private. Joseph, 7386. Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment). 24th February 1919. Age 29. Husband of Annie Norah Margaret GANDER, of 29, Clifton St., Brighton. ZIE.56. [B]Chatham Memorial[/B]: GANDAR, Petty Officer, Bertram James, 196244. H.M.S. HAWKE. Royal Navy. Killed in action with submarine in North Sea 15th October 1914. Age 34. Son of G.T. and C. GANDAR, of 53, St John's Hill Grove, Clapham Junction, London, husband of Ethel Ellen Gandar, of 187, St. John's Hill, Clapham Junction, London. [B]GANDER, Able Seaman, George Arthur, 191637. (RFR/GH/B/8057). R.N. H.M.S. 'Foyle'. Royal Navy. Killed by mine explosion in Straits of Dover 15th March 1917. 21.[/B] GANDER, Able Seaman, Reginald John, J/1747. H.M.S. 'Vanguard'. Royal Navy. Killed by internal explosion of vessel at Scapa Flow 9th July 1917. 21. [CENTER]-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/CENTER] source [URL="http://www.gander-name.info/records/services/cwgc.shtml"]here[/URL] Little h

Thanks that is great, my Mum lives near the Chatham memorial and plans to lay a cross for him this year on Remembrance Sunday as he has no living relatives.

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