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Auction: 22002 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 69

(x) Five: Chief Electrical Artificer 1st Class W. T. Child, Royal Navy, who served aboard Iron Duke at the Battle of Jutland

Africa General Service 1902-56, 1 clasp, Somaliland 1902-04 (W. T. Child, Electrician 4th Cl., H.M.S. Fox); 1914-15 Star (345649 W. T. Child. E.A.1, R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (345649 W. T. Child. C.E.A. 2. R.N.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 1st issue (345649 William T. Child. Ch. Elec. Art. 2 Cl., H.M.S. Iron Duke), the first with re-riveted suspension claw, contact marks, very fine (5)

William Thomas Child was born on 20 July 1879 at Stratford, London. He was the youngest of the seven children of George and Hannah Child; his father worked as a brass finisher in the London Minories, Bethnal Green. In 1901 William was still living at home with his parents and employed as a fitter and turner. On 22 September 1902 he enlisted in the Royal Navy as an Electrician. After training at Vernon (Torpedo School at Portsmouth) he joined Hyacinth, then Fox, both second-class protected cruisers on the East Indies station. In 1904 Fox participated in the operations against the 'Mad Mullah', patrolling the Red Sea and Indian Ocean coasts, and on 21 April 1904 landed a force at Illig, which destroyed fortifications and killed some fifty-six Dervishes.

Over the following ten years Child served in the following ships - between periods ashore - including Racer (composite gunboat), Duke of Edinburgh (armoured cruiser in the Channel Squadron), Latona (an old cruiser of 1892), Ariadne (a cruiser of 1902) and Superb, a modern battleship in the Home Fleet. During this time he was promoted to Electrical Artificer 1st Class and awarded three Good Conduct badges. In July 1903 he was married at Portsmouth.

In March 1914 Child was posted to Iron Duke, which had just been completed. In August 1914 she became the flagship of Sir John Jellicoe, Commander in Chief of the Home Fleet. Some ratings did not like serving in a flagship as the discipline was very strict and there would be a great deal of ceremonial for the coming and going of the Flag Officer concerned and other senior officers who attended conferences on board; nevertheless, Admiral Jellicoe was personally very popular and inspired great loyalty and affection from his subordinates.

Iron Duke was only in action once - the Battle of Jutland, on 31 May-1 June 1916. A fellow Electrical Artificer in one of the other battleships gave an account of his duties as the fleet steamed into the North Sea:

'Usual activity on deck, securing against rough weather, getting boats inboard, closing watertight compartments, etc. I proceed to my usual routine, first to inform the engineroom staff that air compressors are needed. Then to forward submerged torpedo flat. Fleet orders are that all torpedoes are to be topped up from normal air pressure of 2,200 PSI to 2,500 PSI to give longer range. The torpedo crew are assisting the Petty Officer Instructor to withdraw torpedoes from the tubes to fit warheads with firing pistols, also spare primers and pistols are being brought to the 'ready' for immediate use. I check firing gear and instruments from conning tower firing position. Topping up completed, I then proceed to various compartments around the ship to close stop valves on the air ring main so that in the event of damage, each gun turret is independently supplied. This high pressure and water is automatically blown through the gun as the breach opens to douse any burning debris left and to cool the gun barrel.'

The Battle Fleet was originally deployed in six columns of four ships each, steaming abreast. At around 18:00hrs on 31 May Jellicoe knew that a meeting with the German Fleet was imminent and gave the order to deploy in a single line of battle, with the port wing column leading. As George Bonney recalls in The Battle of Jutland 1916:

'This tremendous decision, on which in truth hung the fate of the Fleet and the nation, was taken by Jellicoe in this period of extreme stress, on the basis of information necessarily incomplete, with incomparable coolness.'

Hoist equal speed dependant south-east' was his order to the Fleet Signal Officer. The signal was hauled down at 18:15hrs but before that Iron Duke had begun the turn to port that was to bring the Grand Fleet across the head of the German line, between it and its bases, with most of its guns bearing on the enemy. The line of twenty-four battleships stretched for seven miles, with Iron Duke ninth in line. The tactical advantage had passed decisively to the British.

Admiral Scheer and the High Seas Fleet, who had no idea that the British Battle Fleet was at sea, suddenly found with horrified amazement that '...an entire arc stretching from north to east was a sea of fire.'

Many of the German ships found that their guns were masked by the next ahead and were unable to bear on the British. At 19:33hrs the Germans began a manoeuvre in which the Fleet simultaneously turned away from the British line. At 18:55hrs, when about ten miles to the west of the Grand Fleet, Scheer ordered a second turn which brought the two fleets together again. Once again, the British had the better of the exchange and several German ships were hard hit. The German battleships turned away, their retreat covered by an attack by their battle-cruisers and torpedo boats. Jellicoe also turned his ships away, and the encounter between the two battle fleets was virtually over.

In the course of the battle Iron Duke fired ninety rounds of her 13.5-inch ammunition. Both Jellicoe and the ship's C.O. Captain Frederick Dreyer were noted gunnery experts and it is therefore no surprise that, according to John Campbell in Jutland: an Analysis of the Fighting, Iron Duke had probably the finest record for accuracy of any ship in the fleet and achieved seven hits on the Konig from forty-three rounds at a range of 12,600 yards. Iron Duke was not hit herself, and suffered no casualties.

On 5 June 1916 Iron Duke's crew were startled to see a launch draw alongside containing one of the best-known faces in the country - Field Marshal Lord Kitchener, Secretary of State for War and Britain's greatest living soldier. The Czar had sought his advice on Russia's desperate situation and he was just about to sail for Russia; before doing so, he toured Iron Duke and dined with Lord Jellicoe. He then transferred to the cruiser Hampshire which sailed from Scapa at 16:40hrs, bound for Archangel. Just over three hours later he was dead; Hampshire struck a mine and quickly sank in the mountainous seas (a Force 9 gale was blowing).

In November 1916 Jellicoe was appointed First Sea Lord and Beatty appointed Commander in Chief of the Grand Fleet in his place. Iron Duke's ship's company did not warm to their new Admiral. One of them made a comparison:

'At sea, Sir John, a figure in a duffel coat and sometimes wearing a white cap cover would come through the mess decks with an "Excuse me," and that would be Sir John making his way to the bridge. When Beatty came on board it was 'CLEAR LOWER DECKS' and a file of marines wearing short arms with Beatty in the middle. (He) never moved without a file of marines.'

Beatty soon sensed that he was not welcome and transferred his flag to the Queen Elizabeth. He admitted privately, '...there was too much Jellicoe about the Iron Duke, so I thought a change would be for the best.'

In April 1917 Child was promoted to Chief Electrical Artificer 2nd class, and in October that year he was awarded his L.S. & G.C. Medal. In 1919 Iron Duke was assigned to the Mediterranean, and then deployed in the Black Sea against the Bolsheviks.

After seven years' service in Iron Duke, Child returned to a shore post at Portsmouth in June 1921. He spent the following three years at Vernon, and retired in September 1924. In 1939 he was living with his wife in Ilford, Essex (today part of greater London). He died at the London Hospital, Whitechapel, on 31 March 1953, leaving an estate of £2440.

The Electrical Branch

In the Royal Navy of the late 19th century electrical work came within the purview of the Torpedo officers, but the rapidly increasing use of electrical power induced the Admiralty, in 1901, to sanction the introduction of a new rating, Electrician (equivalent to a Chief Petty Officer). They were to be recruited directly from qualified civilians who had served a recognised apprenticeship. However, by 1902 only thirty had been successfully recruited out of the 100 sought; in view of this disappointing response, selection criteria were lowered to include men without any knowledge of electricity at all provided that they were competent mechanics or otherwise seemed suitable candidates. It was considered that the comprehensive training course at Vernon during their probationary period would bring them up to the required standard.

There were six ranks: Electrician 4th, 3rd, 2nd and 1st Class, depending on years of service, and Chief Electrician 2nd Class promoted by selection) and 1st Class (after six years in the preceding rank). This rank structure corresponded to the Engine Room Artificers branch and the pay was the same, the highest in the Navy. In the reforms of 1910-12 the title 'Electrician' was changed to 'Electrical Artificer.'


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