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I had never before ventured into the uncharted waters of collecting Naval QSA's so ,when the opportunity presented itself, I took the plunge...

William Charles Holloway

Boy Signaller, Royal Navy – Anglo Boer War
Leading Signaller, Royal Navy – WWI

- Queens South Africa medal (no clasp) to W.C. Holloway, Sig. Boy, H.M.S. Philomel

William Holloway was a slip of a boy when he first enlisted with the Royal Navy as a Boy on 12 January 1900. Aged 16, he had been born in Shepherd’s Bush, London on 16 March 1884 the son of William Holloway.

According to his service record young William was, as could be expected, small in stature at a mere 5 feet 2 inches with dark brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion. As was befitting a man (or boy) who was to make a career out of the Navy he was festooned with a number of tattoos, the first, on his left forearm, was the initial “W” mirroring his name. The second was of a sailor with the word “Love” on his right forearm and he had an anchor with a pierced heart on his left arm. Occupation-wise, he claimed to have been an Errand Boy and a Coal Miner.

Thus suitably adapted for the life of a “tar” and with no. 208009 he joined “Boscawen” the shore establishment at Portland where he was to learn the ropes as a Signaller. Spending just over a year there he moved to Victory on 21 January 1901 when the Boer War which he must have been itching to join was already well advanced. Stationed there for only two weeks, he was transferred to the “Gibraltar”, the Flagship of Rear Admiral Arthur W Moore, until 24 April 1901 before finally getting his chance when he was posted to H.M.S. “Philomel”

The “Philomel” had been commissioned at Devonport for the Cape Station on 1 December 1898 under Captain John Bearcroft and had sailed for South Africa on 13 December where she had been outside Luanda (present day Angola) until 16 January 1899.


H.M.S. Philomel off the Bluff, Durban

On 21/22 October of that year her boats had been employed taking refugees from the Transvaal to ships off Lourenco Marques before she had moved down to Durban in December of that year, landing two 4.7in guns plus two field guns with gun crews to join the Naval Brigade who were destined to help Buller’s efforts to take Natal by the scruff of the neck.

From that moment on, those of her crew who had not headed inland in support of the troops sailed with her up and down the South African coastline with the odd trip up to Delagoa Bay.

On 14 March 1901 she, with most of her guns and gun crews back on board, headed for Simonstown which is where young Holloway joined her on 5 April. On 20 May “Philomel” reached Cape Town before setting off up the West Coast arriving at Walvis Bay in what was then German South West Africa on 1 June 1901. From 21 June until 27 July she headed west away from South Africa and the war to St. Helena, the island made famous for the exile of the Emperor Bonaparte so many years before.

St. Helena, at this time, was being viewed by the Governor of Natal as a possible source of cheap labour for the sugar cane fields of that Colony. From there she sailed to St Vincent (Cape Verde) and on to Sierra Leone, arriving there on 18 August before heading back to St Helena and on to Simonstown arriving on 21 October 1901.

The Boer War, at this stage of the conflict, was very much one of hit and run by the Boer forces who had been forced into small and highly mobile commando units. Enterprising leaders like Jan Smuts were eager to spread the British troops as far and as wide as they could and little-known hamlets like Lamberts Bay and O’Kiep, a copper mining town on the west coast of the Cape Colony were easy prey for them. Recognising this, the British High Command sent the “Philomel” to anchor off the coast of Lambert’s Bay as a support to the hard-pressed troops and Town Guard there. Arriving at Lambert’s Bay on 25 October she landed two field guns with crews to garrison local blockhouses and was off the coast until the end of December 1901. The actual siege of the little town only started in April of 1902.

From 4 to 14 January the “Philomel” was at Simonstown before setting sail for Plymouth where she arrived on 16 February 1902.

On 8 March her crew received Queen South Africa medals from King Edward VII in a ceremony at Devonport but Holloway’s was sent on to the “Gibraltar” which he had rejoined on 28 January 1902.

An important day in Holloway’s life was the 16 March 1902, it being his 18th birthday also meant that he had “come of age” in the Naval sense and was now elevated from the status of a Boy to that of a Signalman. His character rating at this point was “V.G.” – Very Good. With his advance in age came changes in his physical make-up, he was now 5 feet 4 ½ inches in height. On 18 July 1902 he was posted to H.M.S. “Blanche”, a Barracouta Class Cruiser, where he spent two months before moving on to the “Forte” on 18 July 1902. By 29 February 1904 he was back with the “Gibraltar” until 18 June when he was posted to the “Hercules”. “Halcyon” a Dryad class torpedo boat was Holloway’s next posting, a short-lived one as it turned out; after two weeks he was sent on to the shore establishment at Pembroke. It was here, in 1905, that he was promoted to 2nd Class Signalman.

For Holloway there was never a dull moment as his next assignment was aboard the “Hawke” – this ship was an Edgar – class protected cruiser which was being used as a training ship at the time Holloway was aboard her.

From 7 March until 14 May 1906 he was attached to the “Royal Arthur”, the shore establishment near Skegness before returning to Pembroke where he was until 31 October 1906. He next moved to the “Leander” a depot ship, where he remained until 26 June 1907. This whirlwind of postings wasn’t uncommon during peacetime as the Navy sought to keep her ratings skilled and up to scratch in the absence of war conditions. There was time for romance, however, and on 11 August 1907, whilst part of the crew of H.M.S. “Blake”, he entered into the marital state at St. Alban the Martyr’s in Fulham, with 28 year old Gertrude Emma Harrald. Now 24 years old the couple gave as their address, 120 Claxton Grove. It was on this marriage certificate that William’s father of the same name was mentioned, his occupation being that of a Miner.

From that moment on Holloway was destined to see the inside of many ships the Blake; Tyne; Hogue; Inflexible and Hecla to name a few. This kept him busy until 15 March 1914 when he was sent ashore to the Royal Fleet Reserve with a Very Good Superior rating, 12 years of service and the rank of Leading Signalman. He joined the R.F.R. at Chatham the next day with no. 10444. Of course no-one, least of all Holloway, was to know that in a matter of six months England would be at war again.

On 4 August 1914 the world was catapulted into yet another war of immense magnitude. The Kaiser had been steadily building up his Fleet as well as Army and was now ready for his attempt at world domination. Britain was having none of this and the belligerents faced off against each on land as well as at sea. Holloway, so recently retired to the Reserve, was called upon again to do his bit and, two days before war was declared had reported to Pembroke where he was given his old rank back and equipped for the battles to come.

On 28 August he joined the only ship he was to serve on in the Great War, the “Undaunted”. H.M.S. “Undaunted” was the Leader of the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla and part of Harwich Force. On the very day Holloway joined he took part in the Battle of Heligoland Bight, the very first naval battle of the war and resulted in what was termed a great British victory. On 17 October 1914 the “Undaunted” was involved in action with German Torpedo boats resulting in the sinking of four German ships and on Christmas Day 1914 she took part in the Cuxhaven Raid.

On 24 January 1915 she took part in Battle of Dogger Bank and in April 1915 was damaged in a collision with the British destroyer HMS “Landrail”. On 24 March 1916, seemingly accident-prone, she was again damaged in a collision with the British cruiser HMS Cleopatra. Having been repaired she saw out the war, as Leader of the 10th Destroyer Flotilla, Harwich Force before being sold for scrap in 1923.

Holloway was certainly making up for the lack of action he saw during the Boer War aboard the “Philomel”. In February 1918 he was transferred to the “Coventry” and, on 19 February 1919 was demobilised and sent home. For his efforts Leading Signalman William Charles Holloway was awarded the 1914/15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medals the whereabouts of which are unknown.