Rank: Seaman A4232 Regiment: Royal Naval Reserve, HMS Majestic, HMS Carnarvon Parish: Beer
HMS Majestic © IWM (Q 75269)
Thomas Russell was born in Beer on 13 September 1892, the son of John Russell and his wife Ann. He was thus the younger brother of Norman, who was born 10 years earlier. He joined the Royal Naval Reserve on 12 March 1912. HIS RNR record card shows him as 5ft 4¾ ins tall, with brown eyes and a fair complexion. At the time of joining he was fishing from Beer in a boat called ‘Violet’, but by the outbreak of war he was using a boat called ‘Sapphire’, E14.
He was called up on 3 August 1914 and joined HMS Majestic the same day. He remained with Majestic until 27 May 1915, when he went to HMS Vivid, a shore establishment at Plymouth. He spent three months there before joining HMS Carnarvon on 14 August 1915.
For a few months in early 1918 his parent unit was recorded as HMS President III, while he spent a period on Defensively Armed Merchant Ships (DAMS), but the names of the individual ships on which he served in this period are not recorded.
He was demobilised on 7 August 1919. For a year after his discharge he received a disability pension of 6s 1d per week (about £12 in 2014 money) as a result of having contracted dysentery during his service. He must have moved away from Beer at around this time, as by June 1920 he was working as a dock gateman at Cardiff.
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Thankyou i hâve learnt more about Tom my grand father !! :)