ELLIS Harold Wilfred

Appears on the memorial under Sailors with the information:: 1 Cl. Boy Ap. 3 1916

Harold Ellis was born in Blockey on 2nd July 1898, his father was a labourer.  Harold was at home in 1901 and 1911, still a schoolboy on the latter date.  On 25th February 1915 at the age of 16 and working as a labourer, he joined the Royal Navy as a Boy Sailor, but his naval career was destined to be short lived.  In 1916, at the age of 17 and still a Boy Sailor, he died from emphysema at the naval hospital in Plymouth.  His body was brought back to Blockley where he was buried in the churchyard.

Harold’s naval record interestingly shows a further period of enlistment for 12 years commencing on 2nd July 1916, his 18th birthday.  Clearly this was a planned event which the authorities neglected to remove from the record, for he had died 3 months earlier.

From RN Registers of Seamen’s Services:
Harold Wilfred Ellis
Born 2/7/1898, Worcester
Occupation: general labourer
Height 5ft 6in, chest 37½ inches
Light brown hair, blue eyes, fair complexion
2/7/16 enlist for 12 years
Powerful Boy II 25/2/15
Powerful Boy 1 14/6/15-17/6/15
Endymion Boy 1 18/6/15-10/12/15
Victory Boy I 11/12/15-3/4/16
Died at Royal Naval Hospital, Plymouth on 3/4/16 from emphysema.

From Marine War Graves Roll:
Harold Wilfred Ellis
Born 2/7/1998 Worcester
Boy 1st class, Royal Navy, J35779 (Po)
Died HMS Victory on 3/4/16 from disease, age 17
Buried Blockley Cemetery
Relative: Mother, 8 Cromwell Terrace, Blockley