TOPIC:

John Robert Mead , O.B.E.

Ordinary Seaman, Royal Navy – Anglo Boer War
Lieutenant, Royal Navy – WWI
Commander, Royal Navy – WWII

- The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, (O.B.E.) Officer’s Military Division
- Queens South Africa Medal to J.R. MEAD. ORD. H.M.S. FORTE
- 1914/15 Star to GNR. J.R. MEAD, R.N.
- British War Medal to LIEUT. J.R. MEAD R.N.
- Victory Medal to LIEUT. J.R. MEAD R.N.
- Defence Medal (unnamed as issued)
- War Medal 1939/45 (unnamed as issued)

John Mead was a career Naval man whose serviced spanned the reign of four monarchs – from the Anglo Boer War until World War II. It is to chaps like him that we owe so much.

Born in Tynemouth, Northumberland on 6 April 1882 he was the son of Joseph Hinton Mead, a Watchmaker by profession, and his wife Mary Ann, born Wilson. In what must have sparked controversy in prudish Victorian times and which would have set the tongues wagging was the fact that his parents only tied the marital knot some four years after he saw the first light of day – on 26 April 1886.

Our first glimpse of young John came via the 1891 England census. The family were resident at 121 Redheugh Road in Gateshead, Durham. Aside from his parents, a nine year old John was in the house with his younger sister Louisa (2).

After a rudimentary education, no doubt sufficient for the period, a 15 year old Mead attested for service with the Royal Navy at Chatham on 7 October 1897. On attestation Mead was described physically as 5 feet 6 inches in height with a fair complexion, brown hair and grey eyes. Having signed on for 12 years he was allotted no. 196331. Commencing service as a Boy he was first aboard Caledonia. On 4 August 1898 he was advanced to Boy 1st Class and posted to Minotaur where he served from 5 August until 16 September 1898. From there he moved back to Caledonia until 21 February 1899. What followed was a short stint on Agincourt until 18 April of that year. His next posting was to Forte where, after a year had gone by and he had attained the age of 18, he was advanced to the rating of Ordinary Seaman on 6 April 1900. It was also noted that he was now a strapping 5 feet 10 inches in height.

HMS Forte was an Astraea-class cruiser of the Royal Navy launched on 9 December 1893 with a displacement of 4360 tons. She was constructed under the Naval Defence Act of 1889 along with several other Astraea-class cruisers. She had a crew of 318 officers and men and, having been commissioned at Chatham on 20 April, 1899 under the command of Captain Edward Pitcairn Jones she received orders to relieve the second class protected cruiser Fox under Captain Frank Hannam Henderson on the Cape of Good Hope Station.


Forte leaving Simonstown bound for the West Coast of Africa

By the time she arrived in South African waters the Anglo Boer War between the two Boer Republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State and the might of Imperial Britian had been raging for almost seven months and, after an initial set back, known as Black Week, the Imperial forces, along with a host of Commonwealth and Colonial units who had rallied to their aid, were beginning to gain the upper hand. The Free State capital, Bloemfontein, had fallen in March and the onward march to Pretoria was well underway.

Troops from the United Kingdom and her Dominions continued to pour in to South Africa and the Royal Navy also made her presence felt with a host of ships assigned to the Cape Station at Simonstown to keep a beady eye on things. Forte served around the tip of the African continent until moving off to the West Coast in 1901. She supplied a number of men (who earned the Natal clasp to their medal) to assist the Natal Field Force in ridding the Colony of the Boers. These men were dispatched from Durban. Mead was not one of those who left the ship and was thus awarded a no-clasp Queens medal for his efforts.

On 1 May 1901 he was promoted to Able Seaman. Staying with Forte until 14 May 1902, his next posting was aboard Pembroke, a shore establishment in England. He was to remain there until moving to Wildfire on 10 December 1902. On 19 February 1904 he was advanced to Leading Seaman and then, on 1 October 1904, to Petty Officer 2nd Class – whilst still aboard Wildfire. on 20 July 1905 he was posted back to Pembroke until 5 October when he joined Blenheim.

His next posting to Lancaster on 20 March 1906 saw him elevated to the rank of Petty Officer 1st Class (on 10 August of that year when he was also passed for Gunner). The next few years saw a dizzying round of postings aboard a number of vessels until, on 16 October 1910, he was promoted to Acting Gunner 1st Class whilst aboard Excellent.

On 25 November 1910 he was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital Haslar in Gosport to have his appendix removed. This meant a stay of 6 weeks in what was a risky operation in those days. Still unfit to return to duty he was resurveyed at Haslar on 20 January 1911 and found fit as a result. He was posted to Commonwealth as an Instructor on 6 June 1911 where Captain Tudor found him to be “most promising, zealous and capable.” He transferred to H.M.S. Valiant on 26 February 1916 and it was in this vessel that he was in the battle of Jutland – the seminal naval engagement of WWI.


H.M.S. Valiant in 1914

Upon completion on 19 February 1916, under Captain Maurice Woollcombe, H.M.S. Valiant joined the recently formed Fifth Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet. In an attempt to lure part of the Grand Fleet out of its ports and destroy it, the German High Seas Fleet, consisting of 16 battleships, 6 battle cruisers, and other ships, left Wilhelmshaven early on the morning of 31 May. The plan called for Hipper to leave Wilhelmshaven with the battlecruisers of the 1st and the light cruisers of the 2nd Reconnaissance Group and push north out of sight of the Danish coast. There he was to provoke a departure of British ships by attacking coastal towns and lure them toward the High Seas Fleet. By 3: 05, the 5th Battle Squadron had reached a distance to attack the German light cruisers. By 3: 08, the 5th Battle Squadron had reached the rear of the German battlecruisers and Valiant opened fire on the SMS Moltke which received one hit.

The situation changed when the German battleships came into view at 3: 40. Since Beatty had failed to sufficiently signal his intentions when he turned north, the battleships of the 5th Battle Squadron were on an opposite course past the battlecruisers and headed directly for the approaching main body of the High Seas Fleet. At 3: 48 Scheer opened fire on the British battleships. Valiant managed to avoid hits and in turn fired on three German ships from a distance of 14 to 16 kilometres at 4: 30. Valiant continued to participate in the battle until the enemy came out of sight at a distance of 17 kilometres at about 5:02.

Mead continued to serve aboard Valiant until 22 March 1918 on which date he was commissioned as a Lieutenant on the back of glowing recommendations which described him as “gentlemanly, most able, clever and hard working.”

Having attended a course at Victory from 28 April to 1 June 1918 Mead was posted to Lucia where he continued to impress until moving on to Thunderer on 26 November 1919. The 4th October 1920 found him as the Assistant Firing Officer on Excellent.

Amid the merry-go-round of ship postings he found time to wed, at St. Mark’s Church, Portsmouth, taking Muriel Case as his bride on 6 August 1913. Interestingly, the 1911 England census has him as a Visitor in the house of Edward James Case, a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy – Muriel’s father. At that time he was a 28 year old Warrant Officer whilst Muriel, his bride-to-be, was 21 years old.

The war was now long over but he continued to impress his superiors who found him to be “capable, full of tact, conscientious, obedient”, and, “quite fitted for higher rank.” Mead was placed on the Retired List at his own request on 31 October 1922 and promoted to Lieutenant Commander (Retired) on 1 March 1926.

As an aside – the primary reason advanced as to why Mead, despite the overwhelming evidence of his worth that was presented, wasn’t promoted earlier comes in the following comments from his various superiors: -

On 5 March 1913 Captain Vaughan-Lewis wrote thus: -

“Accountable officer, very hard working, reliable and keen on the service. Entered for Mate but had to withdraw his name after consideration of the financial impacts. Of very good address, appearance and manners. Recommended for advancement in due course.”

Vaughan-Lewis added, on 4 October 1913: -

“A most able and instructional gunner, very hard working and takes every interest in the service. Should be a Mate but could not afford to be made one.”

Woollcombe, his Captain aboard Valient wrote: -

“A clever, hardworking and very capable officer. Has charge of 15” T.S. which he controls very efficiently, a very loyal and zealous officer of a high standard. I consider Mr Mead to be the best officer of his rank I have served with.”

Now out of uniform Mead largely disappeared from the scene. He no doubt busied himself with family life but, unbeknown to him and everyone else, war clouds were looming once more. Germany, stung by the cataclysmic impact war reparations had had on her economy and the national psyche and spurred on by Adolf Hitler rantings, declared war on Great Britain and her Allies on 6 September 1939 – World War II had begun. Recalled for service for station duties, Mead was recorded as Lieutenant Commander (retired) at H.M.S. Peregrine 20 September 1939.

Peregrine had an interesting history, in 1937 the issue of the control of naval flying was reviewed and the ‘Inskip Award’ of July 21st 1937 transferred the Fleet Air Arm, back to the control of the Admiralty with effect from May 24th 1939. As part of this transfer four airfields in the UK, Donibristle, Lee-on-Solent, Ford, and Worthy Down came under Admiralty control on this date; Royal Naval Air Station Ford was commissioned as HMS PEREGRINE, Captain (A) R. de H. Burton in command.

The School of Naval Cooperation was renamed the RN Observer School and its aircraft were issued to three new squadrons which were formed on May 24th; 750 squadron receiving Ospreys and Sharks, 751 squadron operating Walrus, and 752 Squadron equipped with Proctors and a few Albacores. Two further squadrons were formed to service the school at the end of October 1939; 782 Armament Training Squadron and 793 Air Towed Target Unit. 782 however was disbanded three weeks later before any aircraft were received.

The start of 1940 saw the first front-line squadron formation on the station, 819 Torpedo, Spotter, and Reconnaissance Squadrons formed here on January 15th with 12 Swordfish Is. They briefly moved to RAF West Freugh on March 9th but returned to Ford on the 30th, before departing for RNAS Roborough on May 27th. The Swordfish of 821 had arrived from RNAS Lee-on-Solent on March 18th 1940, and embarked in HMS ARK ROYAL two days later. May saw two Swordfish squadrons arrive from RNAS Campeltown; on the 29th 818 squadron arrived in transit to commence operations at RAF Thorney Island, and on the 31st 816 arrived on the station with 9 Swordfish Is. They moved briefly to Jersey airport on June 4th but returned on the 11th; the Royal Naval Air Station there had been evacuated and closed down on May 31st, the Island fell to the Germans on July 1st. The squadron embarked in HMS FURIOUS on June 14th.

On August 18th 1940 the station came under attack; that morning the Luftwaffe launched a force of 109 Junker Ju87 Stuka dive bombers from 2/StG77, 3/StG77, 5/StG77 and III/StG77, together with 55 Messerschmitt Bf109 fighters and a further 65 Bf109s as fighter escorts of 6/JG2, 1/JG27 and 6/JG27, from bases in Normandy and Brittany to attack the aerodromes in Hampshire and Sussex. The Stukas had four specific targets; Twenty-Two Ju87s would attack RAF Gosport, 27 would attack RAF Thorney Island, 29 would attack RNAS Ford while 31 would attack the Chain Home radar installation at Poling, 3½ miles to the east.

Initial reports claim 30 – 50 dive bombers made the unannounced attack, later this was revised to 13 -15 dive bombers. Direct hits were scored on fuel installations, two hangars, 1 Belman and 1 Storage Hangar, and about a third of the men’s accommodation huts were destroyed. MT and stores sheds, the ratings' and POs' canteens were damaged. 17 aircraft were written off, including all three belonging to Flight Refuelling stored on the station; a further 26 were damaged. The raid left 28 dead and 75 wounded, including naval, army and civilian personnel. Spitfires of No 602 Squadron based at RAF Westhampnett, intercepted the Stukas as they withdrew and managed to shoot down three and badly damaged another before the Bf 109s of III/JG27 intercepted them. One Spitfire pilot had to bale out and three others crash-landed, one on Ford airfield itself. It can be presumed that Mead was present at the base on 18 August 1940 when it came under attack which must have been a harrowing experience on home soil.


Staff photo H.M.S. Goshawk, Trinidad - it is unknown if Mead is present in this photo.

He was then transferred to H.M.S. Daedalus, located near Lee-on-the-Solent in Hampshire, approximately 4 miles west of Portsmouth, on the coast of the Solent for special service on 1 October 1940 and to H.M.S. Goshawk the Royal Naval Air Station at Trinidad in the Caribbean just under two weeks later, on 12 October 1940, as the Executive Officer (to serve in the rank of Acting Commander while holding the appointment) where he remained until 2 November 1945 before taking up his last appointment at H.M.S. Orlando, the shore establishment and gunnery school in Scotland as Base Executive Officer.

It was announced in Admiralty Fleet Orders on 25 June 1942 that he was to be added to the Additional Officers of the Military Division of the said Most Excellent Order (O.B.E.) for his services – awarded by His Majesty in his birthday honours.


Map showing where HMS Goshawk was situated.

On 18 September 1945, on his return from the Caribbean, he had been admitted to Haslar for General Debility – small wonder considering he was 63 years old – discharged the same day, he was granted 21 days Sick Leave.

Mead’s long stretch in uniform was drawing to a close. His superiors still valued his services very highly, as they had done in World War I, saying that: -

“He is a remarkable man who, though over 60, has the energy and alertness of a much younger man. He has personality and character and his outstanding qualities are loyalty and integrity. For a man of his fine service dated back to 1897 it would seem fitting were he promoted to Commander on the Retired List,”

Mead was released from service on 4 November 1946. He was awarded the Defence Medal for six months and more non-operational service, along with the British War Medal 1939/45. After a distinguished career John Robert Mead passed away in the Arundel Hospital on 14 June 1964 at the age of 82. He was living at Lee Farm Patching near Worthing in Sussex when he died. He bequeathed the sum of £870 to Evelyn Muriel Wilkins. He is buried in the Parish of Lyminster.

Mrs Mead is circled in this photo of Goshawk - she accompanied her husband to Trinidad and was put to work.


Lee Farm, Patching, Worthing as it looks today


Acknowledgments other than those in the body of the above work:
- Wikipedia for photos of the ships
- Ancestry for service records, medal rolls and naval postings

Amazing story and presentation.

Wonderful medals and your usual excellent research and presentation. Thank you for sharing Rory.

A note about HMS Caledonia which may be of interest:

HMS Caledonia was a training ship launched in 1810 as the 98-gun second rate HMS Impregnable (1810). She became a training ship in 1862, was renamed HMS Kent in 1888, HMS Caledonia in 1891, and was sold for breaking up in 1906.