TOPIC:

William Bishop

Able Seaman, Royal Navy – Anglo Boer War
Leading Seaman, Royal Navy – WWI

- Queens South Africa Medal (Defence of Ladysmith) to 187117 A–B: W. BISHOP. H.M.S. POWERFUL
- 1914/15 Star to 187117 W. BISHOP. L.S. R.N.
- British War Medal to 187117 W. BISHOP. L.S. R.N.
- Victory Medal to 187117 W. BISHOP. L.S. R.N.

William Bishop, probably known to all in sundry as Bill or Billy, was born in Brighton, Sussex on 3 August 1879 the son of John Bishop, a Fisherman, and his wife Sarah, a Nurse by occupation. At the time of the 1881 England census the family, a large one, were living at 36 Essex Place, Brighton. William, aged 2, was low down the pecking order being preceded by Charles (17), Harry (15), George (13), Harriet (10), Alfred (6), Abraham (4) and succeeded by younger sibling James who was only 1 month old.

Ten years later, at the time of the 1891 England census, the Bishop family had moved across the road and were resident in 33 Essex Place. William was a 12 year old school boy and joined in the house by siblings Fred (22), Harriet (20), Alfred (16) Abraham (14) and James who was now 10. With the exception of Abraham, already out to work as a Watchmaker’s Assistant, all the boys in the family had followed in their father’s footsteps and were Fishermen.

We’ll never know why young Bill decided not to follow suit, opting instead for a career in the “Senior Service” – the Royal Navy. On 7 January 1896 he enlisted for 12 years service at Portsmouth. Physically he was 5 feet 4 inches in height with dark brown hair, brown eyes and a sallow complexion. He sported two tattoos – one of clasped hands on his left arm and one of a woman on his right arm. As was traditionally the case, not yet being of age, he entered service as a Boy II Class - aboard HMS Impregnable until 30 July 1896 before transferring to HMS St. Vincent. He was to spend until 21 November 1896 aboard her before moving on to Boscawen where he was until 27 April 1897. From 28 April to 7 June 1897 he was aboard Pembroke II whereafter, on the following day, he boarded HMS Powerful – the ship he was to serve on in the Boer War.


HMS Powerful

Having attained the requisite age he was elevated to the rank of Ordinary Seaman on his birthday – 3 August 1897. His ship, HMS Powerful, was built by Vickers of Barrow and when launched in June 1897 was, along with her sister ship Terrible, one of the largest cruisers afloat. Her main armament consisted of two 9.2 inch guns and 12 6 inch guns. Her compliment was 894 men commanded by Captain the Honourable Hedworth Lambton. Following her fitting out she was sent to the China station and was being brought back to the UK in September 1899 when she was diverted to the Cape.

There was a very good reason for this, long festering tensions between Great Britain and the two Boer Republics in South Africa had finally boiled to a head with war breaking out on 11 October 1899. Within 48 hours of the outbreak of the war, Terrible and Powerful had arrived at the Cape. They arrived at a critical time and were to play a pivotal role in the conflict. The naval brigades from both ships were to be involved in many actions of the Boer War and at Ladysmith, the navy's Gunners, very likely, determined the outcome of the siege.

Powerful and Terrible were to meet on 14 October at the British naval base at Simonstown, close to Cape Town where they then, expeditiously, began to prepare their guns for use on land. Luckily, the Captain of the Terrible was Percy Scott, the navy's leading gunnery expert, and it was he who supervised the building of carriages that would carry 12 pounder guns on land. These guns and their carriages were ready on 20 October, some of them being sent to Stormberg in the Eastern Cape where their presence was sorely required.

On 25 October, the Naval Commander at Simonstown received a telegram from General Sir George White asking for naval personnel and for long range guns to reinforce his own artillery at Ladysmith. Scott quickly improvised land mounts for two long range 4.7 inch guns to go with the already mounted 12 pounders.

General White, commanding the little field force, had split his force into two, sending a brigade of 4000 men to Dundee whilst keeping the main force of 8000 at Ladysmith. The brigade at Dundee fought the action at Talana Hill on 20 October where General Symons managed to drive the Boers off the hill but at huge cost, including that of his own life. The new commander, General Yule then decided to retire on Ladysmith. It was at this point that General White’s telegraph for artillery assistance was sent to the Commander of the Naval Base at Simonstown. By the 28th October the Boers had cut off Ladysmith’s water supply and surrounded the town within a few days, effectively laying siege to the occupants – both civil and military.

White waited for his men to recover from the ordeals they'd been involved in before attempting a counter attack on Monday 30 October. It was a huge gamble. Rather than retreat to south of the Tugela River, White believed that he could deliver one knockout blow on the encroaching Boer army and so on 30 October, forces were sent out to capture Nicholson's Nek, Long Hill, and Pepworth Hill. With mules stampeding with their artillery pieces, and men finding themselves out of position as well as the Boers, very inconsiderately, not being where they were supposed to be, the day was a calamitous one for the British. Carleton’s force of 1000 men at Nicholson's Nek was completely lost with 800 men being captured by the Boers and other targets not being gained. Had it not been for the timely arrival of the Naval Brigade, the day, which became known as Mournful Monday might have been a whole lot worse. With the arrival of HMS powerful 's naval brigade, General White now had the means to defend Ladysmith against the Boers Long Toms’ which outranged all the artillery that he had at his disposal.

The Powerful's Naval Brigade consisting of 283 officers and men, had arrived at the Port of Durban on 29 October and had travelled overnight by two trains to Ladysmith. The brigade had with them 2 x 4.7 pounder, 4 x 12 pounders and four maxim guns. The first detachment from the brigade arrived at 6:00 a.m. in Ladysmith in the middle of the battle for the town. It had taken them just six days to adapt the 4.7 inch guns and then transport them by ship and rail to Ladysmith – an astonishing feat. Unfortunately, in the quest for speed, the brigade did not bring sufficient ammunition. Scott had asked for 5000 rounds for the 4.7 inch guns but was only given 500 rounds - enough for 25 minutes of rapid firing. He was to receive no further ammunition.

As soon as the brigade arrived at Ladysmith Station it was under fire from the enemy. The 12 pounder guns being transported using oxen and manpower to their positions and it was not long before they were finding their range and silencing the enemies Long Tom, referred to as “Puffing Billy” by the British. One enemy shell did dismount one of the Naval 12 pounders, wounding 3 of the gun crew, the first casualties of the ship in South Africa.


Map of Ladysmith showing emplacements.

It took several days for the 4.7 inch guns to be pulled to their positions on Junction Hill and Cove Redoubt from where they could fire on the Boers long range guns named Long Toms by the British. On the first day that the 4.7 inch guns were in action, 2 November 1899, Lieutenant Edgerton was killed by a shell from Long Tom. On this day the Naval Brigades long guns were being fired on by at least 5 Boer positions and the town found itself finally cut off from the rest of the world.

With the arrival of the Naval Brigade and a battalion of the Rifle Brigade on the 30th of October the total force at lady Smith reached 12,500 officers and men. There was enough food for two months at normal consumption rates. The besieging of almost the entire Natal Field Force left the Colony virtually defenceless until the arrival from England of Buller’s Army Corps, the advance guard of which landed at Cape Town on 4 November.


Powerful gun emplacements

The Boers encircled the town within a six mile radius, mostly from hill positions, whilst the British maintained a smaller defensive ring. The Boers tactics were to try and starve and bombard Ladysmith into surrender whilst keeping Buller and his force of 18,000 men at bay south of the Tugela river. Both sides believed that the siege would be a short one. The Boers only made one serious attempt to breakthrough the defensive ring around Ladysmith - on Waggon Hill on 6 January 1900. For the remainder of the time the Boers were happy to tie up this large force of British soldiers with occasional shelling.

The role of the Naval Brigade was to keep at bay the Boers long range guns and minimise the damage they were doing, otherwise destroying the enemies emplacements or reducing their effectiveness. The Boers brought into action at Ladysmith four 155 millimetre Creusot guns, four 120 millimetre Krupp howitzers and 6 x 75 millimetre Creusot field guns as well as a dozen other guns. The range of these large guns was 10,000, 6000 and 5000 thousand yards respectively and they were positioned on the larger hills around the town – Pepworth Hill, Lombard’s Kop, Surprise Hill, Telegraph Hill, and Mount Bulwana. The Naval Brigade had a 4.7 inch gun mounted on Cove Redoubt, a second 4.7 inch gun on Junction Hill (later moved to Waggon Hill and Caesar’s Camp) and 12 pounders on Gordon Hill, Caesar's camp and Cove Redoubt.


Naval Gun

The 4.7 inch gun on Junction Hill was eventually able to knock out the Boer 6 inch gun on Pepworth Hill, and the 4.7 inch on Cove Redoubt was to repeatedly hit the Boer emplacement on Mount Bulwana at a range of between 8200 and 8900 yards. To help find their targets the Naval Brigade built a conning tower close to the 4.7 inch guns and whenever the enemy was seen to have fired its guns, its fire was returned with a shell that reached it 3 seconds before its shell reached its own targets. This gunnery duel was helped by the way in which the Boers conducted their campaign. They never fired before breakfast and never at night. They took time off regularly for meals with their Rifleman lunching between 11:30 and 12:00. Next came the Artillerists who lunched between 12:00 and 12:30. They hardly ever fired at tea-time and never when it rained. Sunday was a holy day for the Boers who attended church services so giving the British a day off from being shelled.

George W Steevens, a Daily Mail correspondent present in lady Smith, who died before the town was relieved, wrote an account of the siege including this piece about the value of the naval brigade-

“This handful of sailors have been the saving of Ladysmith. You don't know, till you have tried it, what a worm you feel when the enemy is plugging shells into you, and you can't possibly plug back. Even though they spared their shells, it made all the world of difference to know that the sailors could reach the big guns if the ever became unbearable. It makes all the difference to the Boers too, I suspect; for sure as Lady Anne or Bloody Mary gets onto them, they shut up in a round or two. To have the very men among you makes the difference between rainwater and brine.”


Powerful returning home

Following her exploits in South Africa HMS Powerful returned to her home port of Portsmouth arriving on 11 April 1900. The news of the participation of the Naval Brigade in the siege at Ladysmith was well known and the men were regarded as heroes. All the ships at dock in the harbour were decorated with flags to welcome Powerful home. There was to have been a celebratory dinner that evening but it was postponed until April 24th at which time the Mayor of Portsmouth presented a silver watch to every member of the crew. The watchers were engraved with the words siege of Ladysmith 118 days 1899 - 1900 followed by the name of the recipient and HMS Powerful.

Bishop was one of the men who defended Ladysmith – quite where he was positioned is unknown. He was also a recipient of the Silver Watch awarded to each member of the Naval Brigade. It has been alluded to earlier but the common belief was that, were the men of the Powerful not on hand to bombard the Boer positions on the day they arrived, all would have been lost and the Boers would not merely have besieged the town but would have had an open door to the town which they would have occupied and gone on to take Pietermaritzburg and the ultimate prize, the port of Durban.

For his effort Bishop was awarded the Queens Medal with Defence of Ladysmith clasp (this was sent to HMS Australia for handing over). He had been promoted to Abel Seaman on 3 August 1899, just months prior to the Ladysmith siege.

Back in the United Kingdom, Bishop remained with Powerful until a posting to the Duke Of Wellington on 9 June 1900. Although his Boer War service was effectively over, he continued to serve with the Royal Navy on a succession of ships – the Excellent from 16 September until 8 December 1900 followed by Vernon from the 9 December until 25 April 1901. From there it was to the Australia from 26 April 1901 until 7 January 1904 – by which time hostilities had long ceased and Great Britain was enjoying a period of relative peace.

A month-long stint on Firequeen saw him aboard until he joined the crew of Prince George from 1 February to 14 July 1904. This was followed by service on the Majestic until 1 October 1906 until he moved on to the Excellent until 23 March 1907. Whilst crewing aboard the Prince George he wed Mary Anne Elizabeth Jupp in St. Paul’s Church, Brighton on 21 December 1905. He was 26 years old at the time and a Sailor living at 6 Kent’s Court in Brighton. Mary Anne was 22.

He next spent almost two years on Victory – from 24 March 1907 until 18 January 1909 before moving to Revenge until 23 May 1909. Short spells on Illustrious and then Victory followed until, 4 August 1909, the date his 12 years was up and the date on which he transferred to the Royal Fleet Reserve.

The 1911 England census revealed to us what post-navy career he had carved out for himself – that of a Fish Dealer. He and his wife and two children, William John (3) and John Edward (9 months) were living at 18 George Street, Brighton at the time the enumerator called round.

The Great War broke out on 4 August 1914. In the build-up to it many men on the Reserve were called up, Bishop included. He resumed service on 2 August 1914 as an Able Seaman aboard Vindictive. On 7 October 1915 he was promoted to Leading Seaman, remaining on Vindictive until 30 June 1916 when he transferred to Victory I. Vindictive had been refitted in 1909–10 for service in the 3rd Division of the Home Fleet. In March 1912 she became a tender to the training establishment HMS Vernon. Obsolescent by the outbreak of First World War, in August 1914 she was assigned to the 9th Cruiser Squadron and captured the German merchantmen Schlesien and Slawentzitz on 7 August and 8 September respectively. In 1915 she was stationed on the southeast coast of South America. From 1916 to late 1917 she served in the White Sea.

On 12 September 1916 Bishop moved to Renown until 13 November 1918 when he joined Vernon. Renown was laid down by Fairfield at Govan, Glasgow, Scotland on 25 January 1915 and was launched on 4 March 1916 and completed on 20 September 1916, after the Battle of Jutland at the cost of £3,117,204. She served with the Grand Fleet in the North Sea during the remaining two years of the First World War. Assigned to the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron for the duration of the war, she never fired a shot in anger. On 12 December 1917 Renown put to sea with other elements of the fleet in an unsuccessful attempt to intercept the German 3rd Half-Flotilla of destroyers that had destroyed a Scandinavian convoy and most of its escorts off the coast of Norway. For the rest of the war the ships patrolled the North Sea uneventfully.

His service at an end, Bishop was out of uniform once more, taking his discharge on 28 March 1919. He was awarded the standard trio of medals for WWI. Reverting to his previous occupation of Fish Monger, Bishop resumed his life. The 1921 England census revealing that, now 42 years old, he was living at 10 George Street, Brighton, along with his wife and two children. He also had two lodgers staying with him – Harry Higgs and his wife Eleanor.

William Bishop passed away in Brighton in April 1958.

Hi Rory,

Another great write-up; I have this picture in my collection which states "Men of the Powerful that defended Ladysmith"; there is a chance your man is in this photo.

As you stated there were 283 men of the Powerful that defended Ladysmith but I'm not sure there are that many in this picture; anyway there is the chance he is in there somewhere.

Regards.