HMS Russell from Wikipedia
Friday 14th April 1916: We have received a cheery note from
Private C. A. Thompson, Royal Marine Light Infantry, who says there are four
“Bedfords” on HMS Russell , a painter, a baker and a stoker besides himself who
helps to man the guns. They saw the evacuation at Cape Helles and it was a
sight they will never forget.
Source: Bedfordshire Times 21st April
1916
(1) a
pre-dreadnought battleship of 1903 the Russell weighed around 15,000 tons. She
was named after Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford, commander-in-chief of the
navy in the last years of the 17th century. The ship struck a mine not long
after this letter was written – 27th April, and slowly sank off Malta. Only 125
of her 720 crew were lost. Coincidentally, Second World war Admiral of the
Fleet John Cunningham was one of those who escaped – he lived in Ampthill in
retirement and was a Deputy Lieutenant for Bedfordshire.
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