WWI REMEMBERED Town grieves for fathers and sons as steamships torpedoed

ACENTURY ago this autumn, the bloody Battle of Passchendaele was drawing to a conclusion as the toll of British deaths during World War I escalated into the hundreds of thousands.

But the conflict had entered a different phase during the long months of 1917.

That came with the entry of the US into the conflict in April, leading to a clear and critical change in favour of the Allies and against the Central Powers.

However, it by no means meant an easy life for the Entente Powers, or British troops in general.

It still saw sailors killed who were toiling far from the grim battlefields yet still working towards the war effort.

In October, two steamships containing men from Barry were torpedoed by enemy submarines, leading the town to mourn the loss of young sons and fathers.

The first instance was described by the Barry Dock News on October 26 as enemy “brutality in its most heinous form”, which centred around the sinking of the steamship Exmere.

That ship, belonging to Liverpool firm Bromport Steamship Company, was torpedoed on October 13, 1917, while on the run home to Barry from Belfast.

The newspaper report with the headline “Terrible Story of Hun Brutality” said the crew was “chiefly composed of Barry sailors”, and there were only eight survivors. It then described the chain of events. “The steamer sank within a few minutes of being struck, and one of the lifeboats capsized after being put out with a full complement on board.

“In response to the men’s appeal for help, as they swam about in the rough cold sea, and some clinging to the upturned boat, the submarine commander called out in clear English: ‘Go to hell with you; we will not save you,’ and ordered his crew to ram the boat.”

According to the report, four of the men were picked up by a trawler, and it was later found that William Maxwell, who left a widow at 36, Fryatt Street in Barry Docks, was underneath the boat.

Maxwell’s body was taken to Holyhead, and four other surviving members of the ship’s company were landed in Dublin.

At the subsequent inquest in Holyhead into his death, the jury brought in a verdict of “Wilful murder against the German Government”.

His body was brought back to Barry on October 20, and interred at Merthyr Dyfan Cemetery the next day, with the Rev JS Longdon, director of Cadoxton, officiating.

The paper reported that a “large number of relatives and friends were present, and the coffin was covered with numerous wreaths of beautiful flowers”.

Describing the victim, the report said: “Mr Maxwell, who was 59 years of age, was chief steward, and wellknown and popular at Barry. He was previously torpedoed only seven weeks ago, but was anxious to again ‘do his bit’ for his country.”

Another victim from Barry was Frederick Smith, a 19-year-old son of Mr and Mrs F Smith, of 46, Sydenham Street, Barry Dock, who had been “following the sea” since he left school.

Other men from Barry who lost their lives were John Jones, a cook of Regent Street, who was previously a chemist in Holton Road, and Frank Osborne, aged 16, of 8, Fryatt Street.

Edward Pederson, of 37, Street, was among those saved.

Tragedy would hit soldiers from the town again around two weeks later when, on October 25, the Sunderland steamer Sten left Barry for France, laden with coal.

The paper said she had not been out of the port 18 hours when she was torpedoed by the German submarine U-35, and sank within two minutes.

Nine men, including the master – Captain Dawson, from Sunderland – were reported missing.

The remaining 11 were rescued by a trawler and fishing boats, eventually landing at St Ives.

Two young seamen among missing were from Barry.

The first was George Gill, 24, the eldest son of dock constable and Mrs C Gill, of Cadoxton. The second was Evan Owens, 19, the youngest son of Fryatt the Mr and Mrs John Owens, of Station Street, Barry.

The paper reported that Gill had previously been torpedoed in April of the same year. Remarkably, he had also been rescued from the dynamiteladen steamer Allan Chine on its way to the Panama Canal. The vessel blew up in port at Baltimore in 1913, when about 50 people were killed and “immense damage” done.

Describing the casualties, the paper wrote: “Young Owens was a former pupil of Holton Road Council School,