Hello All I am at present trying, with the assistance of my mother -in -law, to put names to old photos that she acquired on the death of her cousin. Although she and her sister were taken in by here mother's sister and husband on the death of her mother in the 1930's she did not know any of the family background. She always says he was a very kind person whom she was very fond of. They lived in Ladysmith in South Africa. Anyway, amongst the photos we found a "Yankie Postcard" photo of him (the uncle) and two others in their naval uniforms and dated 1914.Unfortunately their names were written in ink and are indecipherable. However their hat bands indicate that they were from the HMS Pathfinder. I looked up this ship for WW1 (there was another in WW2) and on Wikipedia it says:- "HMS Pathfinder was the lead ship of the Pathfinder class scout cruiser, and was the first ship ever to be sunk by a torpedo fired from a submarine ( the American Civil War ship USS Housatonic had been sunk by a spar torpedo)... "Pathfinder was sunk off St Abbs Head, Berwickshire, Scotland on Saturday 5 September 1914 by the German U-21... "There is significant confusion regarding the number of survivors. On 6 September The Times declared that 58 men had been rescued but that four had died of injuries. The fact is that it is impossible to determine how many were on board that day, adds to difficulties but research indicates that 268 personnel were on board plus two civilian canteen assistants. There were just eighteen known survivors:" (The survivors are then named but no mention is made of the person, in the photo, I am looking for - Gilbert DEACON ). Could he have been transferred to another ship or any other explanation? Which organization or naval records office could assist me? I have two other naval queries to sort out but they can wait in order to avoid confusion. Douglas South Africa

Hi Douglas If you go to the National Archives you can download his service record (chargeable) Description Name Deacon, Gilbert William Official Number: 311801 Place of Birth: Durban, Natal Date 01 June 1887 Catalogue reference ADM 188/510links to the Catalogue Dept Records of the Admiralty, Naval Forces, Royal Marines, Coastguard, and related bodies Series Admiralty: Royal Navy Registers of Seamen's Services Piece 311501-312000 Image contains 1 document of many for this catalogue reference Number of image files: 1 Image Reference Format and Version Part Number Size (KB) Number of Pages Price (£) 301 / 272 PDF 1.2 1 116 1 3.50 Total Price (£) 3.50 They are usually one page with a list of the vessels and shore bases and other events , training etc , it should tell you where he was at the time of the sinking you mention Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) > Hello All > > I am at present trying, with the assistance of my mother -in > -law, to put names to old photos that she acquired on the death of her > cousin. > > Although she and her sister were taken in by here mother's > sister and husband on the death of her mother in the 1930's she did not > know > any of the family background. She always says he was a very kind person > whom > she was very fond of. They lived in Ladysmith in South Africa.

Hello Nivard Thanks for your reply. As mentioned in my letter I have two other naval relatives to investigate. One is my wife's grandfather who served on the HMS Vindictive in WW2 but it is unknown what ship he served on in WW1 (his brother, Archibald, was killed at Arras with the South African Infantry. His son named Archibald was a bomber pilot in WW2). The other naval query relates to my father's cousin. I don't know which ship he served on but I remember his wife relating the story of her self along hundreds of other "war brides" arriving in South Africa after the war. Thanks again. Douglas -----Original Message----- From: lanark-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:lanark-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Nivard Ovington Sent: 25 February 2010 08:55 PM To: lanark@rootsweb.com; holmessandra719@gmail.com Subject: Re: [Lanark] Navy Questions Hi Douglas If you go to the National Archives you can download his service record (chargeable) Description Name Deacon, Gilbert William Official Number: 311801 Place of Birth: Durban, Natal Date 01 June 1887 Catalogue reference ADM 188/510links to the Catalogue Dept Records of the Admiralty, Naval Forces, Royal Marines, Coastguard, and related bodies Series Admiralty: Royal Navy Registers of Seamen's Services Piece 311501-312000 Image contains 1 document of many for this catalogue reference Number of image files: 1 Image Reference Format and Version Part Number Size (KB) Number of Pages Price (£) 301 / 272 PDF 1.2 1 116 1 3.50 Total Price (£) 3.50 They are usually one page with a list of the vessels and shore bases and other events , training etc , it should tell you where he was at the time of the sinking you mention Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) > Hello All > > I am at present trying, with the assistance of my mother -in > -law, to put names to old photos that she acquired on the death of her > cousin. > > Although she and her sister were taken in by here mother's > sister and husband on the death of her mother in the 1930's she did not > know > any of the family background. She always says he was a very kind person > whom > she was very fond of. They lived in Ladysmith in South Africa. ------------------------------- LANARK, SCOTLAND MAILING LIST LIST TOPIC: The discussion and research of genealogy or history information pertaining to Lanark, Scotland at any point in its history. WHEN REPLYING to any list post please remember to snip most of the earlier message before you post any reply LIST INFORMATION PAGE: Contact the List Admin at lanark-admin@rootsweb.com; or to search the list archives, get information on subscribing or unsubscribing, or to obtain other useful information to help you use the list more effectively, please click on the following link to the list information page online: http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/intl/SCT/LANARK.html ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to LANARK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Hi Douglas The service records for anyone who served in WW2 (including those records for those who also served in WW1) are not available to the general public , if memory serves its 2020 when they are released You can apply for them (charge was £30 last I heard) if you are the next of kin and the person concerned is deceased (proof is requested) the serviceman themselves would get them free If you want more on that let me know Regarding your war bride, first they would most likely have married Britain and may appear in the passenger lists on findmypast (outgoing) many also came back for visits or permanently and may appear in Ancestrys passenger lists (incoming) It may also be worth searching for specific ships associations Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) Hello Nivard Thanks for your reply. As mentioned in my letter I have two other naval relatives to investigate. One is my wife's grandfather who served on the HMS Vindictive in WW2 but it is unknown what ship he served on in WW1 (his brother, Archibald, was killed at Arras with the South African Infantry. His son named Archibald was a bomber pilot in WW2). The other naval query relates to my father's cousin. I don't know which ship he served on but I remember his wife relating the story of her self along hundreds of other "war brides" arriving in South Africa after the war. Thanks again. Douglas