Jack Beechey – Stoker on the doomed HMS Hampshire

Jack (John William Harry Beechey - Service no. K/16587 (PO)) was the eldest son of William Henry and Anne Beechey (nee Appleby) of 39 South View, Grove Street, Wantage. Jack was born in Windsor, Berkshire, and on leaving school became a milkman. He joined the Royal Navy in 1912, when he was just 18 years old, as a second-class stoker - but was promoted to first class stoker in October 1913. His service record shows that he served on various ships including Victory II, Iron Duke, Renown, Edgar, Queen Mary, Europa and the Hampshire. The Europa was a ship that serviced other ships stationed around the world, acting as a sort of shuttle ship. The Europa had previously taken a new crew for the Hampshire out to the Far East and brought the old crew back to the UK. Jack was 22 when he joined the ill-fated voyage of HMS Hampshire in June 1916 which had Lord Kitchener on board. The family believe HMS Hampshire was previously at the Battle of Jutland where it received light damage after it rammed and sank a U-boat. The ship returned to Scapa Flow, east of the Orkney Islands. Fred Foxton, the Electrical Artificer on HMS Caroline, reported that the HMS Hampshire had returned to Scapa Flow from patrol on the morning on 5th June 1916 and that the servicemen were told to ‘sling their hammocks’. However, the order was countermanded and they put to sea again with HMS Royalist and two screening destroyers. HMS Hampshire left Scapa Flow with Lord Kitchener on board and the family say that the rumour was that they were going to Russia to rescue the Tsar. The Hampshire went westward of the Orkney and Shetland Islands while HMS Caroline and the Royalist went eastwards of the islands with their destroyers. The weather conditions at the time were atrocious and the accompanying destroyers were sent back to the harbour because the seas were so rough. The telegraphist on HMS Caroline went on watch at midnight and reported that he could hear the HMS Iron Duke calling and continuing to call the HMS Hampshire with no response. The theory at the time was that the captain of the Hampshire had stayed inshore of the islands to keep out of the worst of the weather but unfortunately ran into the German mines. It was suspected that the U-boat that had laid the mines was one that had been attacked some time earlier by British destroyers. According to official records, 643 men are listed as having lost their lives but others have speculated that the real number is probably more like 700 men. Having read the accounts of the sinking, the family believe that, as a stoker, their Uncle Jack would have had an horrific death, trapped below decks and surrounded by scalding steam and fire, with no chance of escaping. Jack was a simple country lad, unsophisticated with a limited education from a hard-working family. His letters home to his mother were affectionate and loyal. In them he pledges to give his wages to his mother, often promising to send three-quarters of his wages at a time. Doris’s daughter Phyllis recalls that her first awareness of Jack was of a ‘picture with writing on it’ in her grandma’s house. When Phyllis asked her why she had this on the wall her grandma told her to read it and see what it said. It was a commemorative scroll with Jack’s details on it honouring his sacrifice. She told Phyllis that Jack was her eldest son. The night before he left for service on HMS Hampshire Jack told his younger sister Doris, who was only five at the time, that he would like to bring her a little present back and asked her what she would like. She replied that all she wanted was for him to come home safely. He consulted his mother who thought that Doris would dearly like a little watch. Later, Jack’s mother bought Doris a watch in memory of her big brother. Jack had previously given Doris a gold cross and chain. Doris was scared to lose it and kept it in a box, but her daughter Phyllis is proud to wear this gift from her Uncle Jack. The family say that on the night of 5th June 1916 Jack’s mother heard a thud and although she checked throughout the house she couldn’t find a reason for it. She later associated the thud with the explosion of the mine and the loss of the Hampshire and also firmly believed that she had heard Jack calling her. Phyllis recalls her grandmother as always being sad and believes she never got over the loss of her eldest son. Jack died helping to defend his country in the ‘war to end all wars’. To others he is a number on a casualty list but to his family he is a hero.