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JOHN TRAVERS
CORNWELL V.C. Boy, First Class, Royal Navy. |
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CORNWELL, JOHN TRAVERS, Boy,
First Class, Royal Navy, was born on 8 Jan. 1900, at Leyton, son of
Eli and Alice Cornwell. He was educated at Walton Road School, Manor
Park. He wished to be a sailor when he left school, but his parents
could not bear the thought of losing him so soon so he
bravely turned to the work that lay to his hand, and became a
boy on a Brook Bond's tea van. He was also a keen Boy Scout, and
held two certificates. When the European War broke out his father
promptly joined the Army, and Jack Cornwell was given his chance to
join the Navy. He went through preliminary training at Devonport
from 27 July, 1915 and became a First Class Boy on HMS Chester for
active service in Admiral Beatty's North Sea Squadron. A few months
after Jack Cornwell joined his ship, Admiral Beatty came to grips
with the German High Seas Fleet near Jutland 31st May 1916; he
was mortally wounded in action, and died two days later in Grimsby
hospital. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross [London
Gazette, 15 Sept. 1916] : " John Travers Cornwell, Boy (First
Class), O.N. J.42563: Mortally wounded early in the action, Boy,
First Class, John Travers Cornwell remained standing alone at a most
exposed post, quietly awaiting orders, until the end of the action,
with the gun's crew dead and wounded around him. His age was under
sixteen and half years."The story of his brave deed was told in
the following letter, written to his mother by the Captain of his ship
:
" I know you would wish to hear of the splendid fortitude and
courage shown by your son during the action of 31 May. His devotion
to duty was an example for all of us. The wounds which resulted in
his death within a short time were received in the first few minutes
of the action He remained steady at his most exposed post at the
gun, waiting for orders. His gun would not bear on the enemy ; all
but two of the ten crew were killed or wounded, and he was the only
one who was in such an exposed position. But he felt he might be
needed, and, indeed, he might have been ; so he stayed there,
standing and waiting, under heavy fire, with just his own brave
heart and God's help to support him. I cannot express to you my
admiration of the son you have lost from this world. No other
comfort would I attempt to give to the mother of so brave a lad, but
to assure her of what he was, and what he did, and what an example
he gave, I hope to place in the boys' mess a plate with his name on
and the date and the words, ' Faithful unto Death.' I hope some day
you may able to come and see it there. I have not failed to bring
his name prominently before my Admiral."
Admiral Sir
David Beatty himself, in his
official Despatch describing the battle, wrote :
" Boy (First Class) John Travers Cornwell, of the Chester, was
mortally wounded early in the action. He, nevertheless, remained
standing alone at a most exposed post, quietly awaiting orders till
the end of the action, with the gun's crew dead and wounded all
round him. His age was under sixteen and a half years. I regret that
he has since died, but I recommend his case for special recognition
in justice to his memory, and as an acknowledgment of the high
example set by him."
The " Times History of the War
"
says, in Vol. II., page 189, of Jack
Cornwell:
" He was only a boy, under sixteen and a half years of age; yet
no record of the Cross was more impressive than that of his
behaviour in the Jutland battle : Mortally wounded early in the
action, he remained standing alone at a most exposed post, quietly
awaiting orders, until the end of the action, with the gun's crew
dead and wounded all round him. Some time elapsed before the
steadfast courage of the boy was made known. Meanwhile he had been
brought ashore, he had died at Grimsby of his wounds, and through
one of the stupid blunders which are inseparable from officialdom he
had been buried in what was no better than a pauper's grave. No
sooner was the truth known of the lad's last hours of life and the
manner of his death than public opinion demanded a befitting
reinterment. Accordingly the body was exhumed, and there was an
impressive funeral in Manor Park Cemetery. A few months afterwards
the boy's father, Eli Cornwell, who had joined the Army, was buried
in the same grave." . . . A committee was formed to organize a
national memorial to Jack Cornwell. and £21,849 13s. 111/2d.
was raised. "
A picture of the boy, standing
by his gun, with Admiral Sir David Beatty's report of the incident,
occupies a position of honour in more than 12,000 schools. At
Buckingham Palace, on 9 February, 1917, the Queen received the
members of the
Jack Cornwell Memorial Fund
Committee, who presented to her the first instalment of the proceeds
of the appeal. Admiral Lord Beresford presented an address
explaining the objects of the fund and the means adopted to carry
them out. One form of the memorial was a contribution of £18,000
collected in the schools and by scholars of the United Kingdom to
the ' Star and Garter' Fund, and it was proposed as another part of
the scheme to place a portrait of Cornwell in each of the
contributing schools. In accepting a cheque for £18,000, the Queen
said : '
I am glad to know that in every school
where the scholars have contributed to this memorial a picture
of
Jack Cornwell will be placed, which
will serve to remind future
generations
of scholars in those schools of the
lasting glory that attaches to the
performance
of duty.' On 23 March, 1917, a large
company witnessed at the Mansion House the presentation to the Board
of Admiralty of Mr. Frank O. Salisbury's picture, ' John Cornwell,
V.C., on H.M.S. Chester.' Sir Edward Carson, the First Lord,
received
the picture on behalf of the Admiralty.
The picture showed the lad standing by the side of
a
gun, which had just been fired. The
inscription gave the official details of Cornwall's act. The artist
unveiled the picture, and in formally presenting
it
to the Admiralty, said that the studies
were taken on board the Chester.
Cornwell's
brother
sat
for the portrait. The captain, on being
asked
for a title for the picture, replied
that he knew of none which was more appropriate than this : ' Thou
hast set my feet in a large place.' In accepting the gift on behalf
of the Admiralty, Sir Edward Carson paid a high tribute to the dead
lad's courage and example.
'
I ask people who grumble' he said, ' if
they ever heard the story of John Travers Cornwell. ... I feel that
this boy, who died at the post of duty,
sends
this message through me
as
First Lord of the Admiralty for the
moment to the people of the Empire: "Obey your orders, cling to
your post,
don't grumble, stick it out."
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