Name
Wilfred Ives
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
31/05/1916
18
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Able Seaman
J/30757
Royal Navy
H.M.S. "Defence"
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 (Mons) Star, British War and Victory Medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
CHATHAM NAVAL MEMORIAL
Panel 16
United Kingdom
UK & Other Memorials
Holy Trinity Church Memorial, Weston
Pre War
Born in Ardeley/Buntingford 1 November 1897, son of John Ernest and Mary Ives. Came to Weston from Ardeley when his father began working for Mr Pryor at Weston Park as Head Shepherd. 1911 Census: Living at with his family at Lannock Cottages, Weston, Stevenage, Herts and a schoolboy. Occupation on enlistment was as "Farmers Boy".
Wartime Service
Enlisted for 12 years on his eighteenth birthday, although he had been in the Service as a Boy since 1914. His service record showed him to be of very good character and satisfactory ability. Served on HMS Powerful from April to November 1914, then HMS Defiance from December 1914 to January 1915 and finally on HMS Defence from January 1915 until he died at the Battle of Jutland. His ship was hit by German shells at 1820 hrs and exploded immediately, going down with all hands. He had been home on leave only a month before his death, when unexpectedly his eldest brother Arthur of the Bedfordshire Regiment also came home from the trenches for the first time. It was the first time they had met in uniform.
Additional Information
Another brother Ernest (also known as George) later also joined the Navy and served as a stoker until the late twenties when he was discharged suffering from tuberculosis. He died in 1929.
Acknowledgments
Peter Handy, Brenda Palmer
