Alfred Francis Ford
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- Military History
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Alfred was born in 1883 in Newark and was the son of Francis a railway coach builder and Annie Ford, nee Hoe of Newark, Francis was born in 1847 in Barnstaple, Devon and Annie was born 1847 in Leicester, they were married in June 1868 in Newark. They had a total of 8 children , however sadly two died in infancy, their surviving children were Andrew George b1872 in Newark, Henrietta C b1875 in Blackburn, Caroline b1876 in Blackburn Sam Lord b1878 in Southwell Alfred Ford b1883 in Newark George H b1886 in Newark and William H b1889 in Newark. in the 1901 census the family are living at 10 Barnby Gate, Newark. Francis is 54 years , a railway carriage manufacturer and is livng with his wife Annie 54 years and their children , Andrew son 29 years a striker in a blacksmiths shop, Caroline 25 years a manageress in music books,, George H 15 years engineers draughtsman, and William 12 years a scholar. By the 1911 census the family are living on London Road, Newark , Francis 64 years is still a carriage manufacturer and is living with his wife Annie 64 years and their son Andrew George ,39 years, still single and also a carriage manufacturer. He married his wife Sarah Beatrice Nurse in September 1910 in Kensington and they went on to have a daughter Amy Beatrice they lived at 25 Stebbing Street, Notting Hill, London. Alfred by the time of the 1911 census is in the Army, he is listed as being married 28 years and is in the 31st Company ,Army Service Corps and is at their barracks in Bulford Camp in Salisbury.
Alfred – enlisted in Lincoln aged 18 years and four months in March 1900, was promoted to Lance-Corporal in 1903, Corporal in 1906, Sergeant in 1909 and Company Quartermaster Sergeant on 5 March 1917; and transferred to 502 Company on 28 July 1917. He was killed whilst travelling on board the ship Leinster, when it was torpedoed and sunk on 10th October 1918. He is remembered in Grangegorman Military Cemetery, Dublin. The following is an extract from the Magnus School, Newark diary of the 'Great War' :- Thursday 10 October 1918: Old Magnusians Alfred Ford and Thomas Walter Harrison were among 501 people to perish when the Irish mail boat, the Leinster, was torpedoed 16 miles out of Kingstown (Dun Laoghaire) on the way to Holyhead. Like many more of the casualties, they were on the way home on leave on the defenceless vessel. It went down in history as the greatest ever loss of life in the Irish Sea and the highest ever casualty rate on an Irish owned ship. Alfred – the husband of Sarah Beatrice Ford and father of Amy Beatrice at 25 Stebbing Street, Notting Hill, London, and third son of the late Francis Ford, a pioneering coach builder, and Annie Ford of 34b Appletongate, Newark – enlisted aged 18 years and four months in March 1900, was promoted to Lance-Corporal in 1903, Corporal in 1906, Sergeant in 1909 and Company Quartermaster Sergeant on 5 March 1917; and transferred to 502 Company on 28 July 1917. He is remembered in Grangegorman Military Cemetery, Dublin. Thomas Harrison, born 1883, attended the Magnus though his parents lived at Kelstern Grange near Louth in Lincolnshire; and set about a career in law while settling with his wife, Katie Ella, in Horncastle. He enlisted at Lincoln's Inn, London, in May 1915, and after initial training with the Inns of Court Officer Training Corps, he was commissioned to the Lincolnshire Regiment three months later. He left for France the same month. On 9 June 1917, during attacks on Lens, he was uncomfortably close to a bursting shell: diagnosed with shell shock, he was treated in various hospitals before being examined at Lievin in July 1918 and declared fit for home service. Attached to 2/1st Battalion Queen's Own Yorkshire Dragoons at Bantry. When the Leinster was torpedoed, Thomas acted instinctively with heroic fortitude and assisted in handing women over the side of the stricken ship to the waiting lifeboats below, and was seen on deck just prior to the Leinster going down. He is remembered on the Hollybrook Memorial, Southampton; the Magnus War Memorial and the War Memorial at St. Mary's Church, Horncastle.
The loss of Royal Mail Ship LEINSTER The Royal Mail Ship "Leinster" was owned by the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company. Built by Cammell Laird of Birkenhead in 1897, it was torpedoed in the Irish Sea, 16 miles east of Dublin, shortly before 10am on the morning of Thursday 10th October 1918, on its outbound journey of 100km [68 miles] from Kingstown [now Dun Laoghaire], Dublin, to Holyhead, Anglesey, North Wales. The following numbers are those noted some years ago, and are now known to be incorrect. It had 771 persons on board, which included, 77 crew and 695 passengers, of whom there were, 180 civilians, 22 postal sorters, 493 military personnel. Amongst this latter group were military medical staff of doctors and nurses from many of the commonwealth nations. The Leinster was sunk by torpedoes fired from a German submarine, UB-123, which was commanded by 27 year old Oberleutnant Robert Ramm. The first missed, but two others hit the vessel. The second hit the Mail Room, and the third hit the Engine Room. 8 days later on 18 October 1918, during its return to Germany, UB-123 hit a mine in the North Sea and sank with the loss of the entire crew of 2 officers and 33 men. Their bodies were never recovered. Official lists prepared at the time record that 501 persons died when the Leinster sank, but more recent research suggests that the figure is over 550. Contemporary newspaper and shipping company reports indicate that 256 individuals were rescued, not all of whom survived. Not all of the bodies were recovered. Of those that were, some were not found immediately, and due to the currents in the Irish Sea they came ashore in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Isle of Man, England and Wales. It is now thought likely that there were at least 552 casualties 37 crew. 143 civilians. 350 military personnel. 21 postal workers. Above is taken from the Find a Grave website.
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