Walter Harold Henry Skidmore
Memorial: Kingswood - Holy Trinity Church
Regiment: Royal Navy
Medals: 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Victory Medal
Rank and number: Ordinary Seaman J/16034
Parents: Arthur Henry and Sarah Skidmore (stepmother Annie Norris)
Home address: 39 Hanham Road, Kingswood, Bristol
Pre-war occupation: Box Maker in Boot Factory
Date of birth: 25/02/1896
Place of birth: Bitton, Bristol
Date of death: 06/08/1914
Buried/Commemorated at: Died at sea and commemorated on Plymouth Naval Memorial and Kingswood Holy Trinity Memorial
Age: 18
Further information:
Walter was born in Bitton, the son of a bootmaker and the eldest of three brothers. His mother died when he was aged 11, and his father married his stepmother Annie Norris.
Walter was stationed at Devonport Plymouth, on the day that war broke out. On the following day, 5th August 1914, he was serving aboard the 'Amphion' when it destroyed a German mine-laying vessel off the Suffolk coast in the first Naval battle of the war. A number of survivors were taken prisoner. The following morning at 6.30 am, the Amphion struck one of the mines and immediately caught fire. Twenty minutes later, the survivors including, German prisoners and the captain abandoned ship when a second explosion rocked the boat flinging debris high into the air. The debris rained down on the rescue boats killing another three. In all twenty prisoners and 131 men including Walter were lost and there were 152 survivors including the captain.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
This information has been provided by Sarah Hands, Volunteer Researcher for the South Gloucestershire War Memorials Web Site.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
https://www.cwgc.org/
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/
https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/