Albert Edward Winters
- Family History
- Military history
- Extra information
- Photographs
Albert Edward Winter was born on 18th May 1893 at Shoreditch, London, he was the son of the late William Edward an upholsterer and Sarah Ann Winters née Cockshaw and the brither of Maud and Violet Winters.
His father William Edward was born in 1853 at Shoredithch he died in 1903 aged 50 yrs, his mother Sarah Ann Cockshaw was born in 1854 at Hackney, they were married on 3rd August 1874 at St James Church, Shoredith, they went on to have 8 children, sadly 3 were to die in infancy or early childhood.
In the 1911 census his widowed mother Sarah Ann 55 yrs is living at 5, Charles Square, Shoreditch, London.
He enlisted 18/5/1911 for 12 years and formerly served aboard HMS Commonwealth.
HMS Defence was laid down on 22 February 1905 at the Royal Dockyard in Pembroke Dock, Wales. She was christened on 27 April 1907 by Lady Cawdor and commissioned on 3 February 1909 at the cost of £1,362,970. During the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916, Defence was the flagship of Rear-Admiral Sir Robert Arbuthnot, leading the First Cruiser Squadron. The squadron formed the starboard flank of the cruiser screen, ahead of the main body of the Grand Fleet. Defence was just to the right of the centre of the line. At 5:47 p.m., Defence, and HMS Warrior, the leading two ships of the squadron, spotted the German II Scouting Group and opened fire. Their shells fell short and the two ships turned to port in pursuit, cutting in front of the battle cruiser HMS Lion, which was forced to turn away to avoid a collision. Shortly afterwards, they spotted the disabled German light cruiser SMS Wiesbaden and closed to engage. When the two ships reached a range of 5,500 yards (5,000 m) from Wiesbaden they were spotted in turn at 6:05 by the German battle cruiser SMS Derfflinger and four battleships who were less than 8,000 yards (7,300 m) away. The fire from the German ships was heavy and Defence was hit by two salvoes that caused the aft 9.2-inch magazine to explode. The resulting fire spread via the ammunition passages to the adjacent 7.5-inch magazines which detonated in turn. The ship exploded at 6:20 with the loss of all men on board; between 893 and 903 men were killed. (Wikipedia)
Andy McKinnon notes this man's 'link to Arnold (is) unclear but (he was) listed as one of Arnold’s Mighty Army in the South Notts Echo on 25th September 1915'.
Thanks to Andy McKinnon for this identification.
Photo of Albert Edward Winters
Plymouth Naval Memorial