~ Chapter Seventeen ~
The Boy Sailor
At fifteen, Tom was still a boy when he joined the Royal Navy in June 1915, signing on for the minimum period of twelve years. Better known as “the dozen”, that period did not include time served before the age of eighteen, which meant that Tom would be thirty before his engagement ended.
On the day of his enlistment, Tom’s occupation was described as an errand boy and his height was recorded as 5 feet 3½ inches. Some ten years later, in December 1925, he had grown to 5 feet 6 inches, probably a common height for many East Kent Gisby men both then and now.
Tom began his naval career at HMS Ganges in Shotley on the Sussex coast. This was the shore training establishment for boy entrants into the Royal Navy. It aimed over a period of about a year to turn the boys into highly skilled, disciplined sailors. Its regime was notoriously harsh, however, as is evident in these extracts from The Legend of HMS Ganges, the famous poem by the naval historian, John Douglas:
On the day of his enlistment, Tom’s occupation was described as an errand boy and his height was recorded as 5 feet 3½ inches. Some ten years later, in December 1925, he had grown to 5 feet 6 inches, probably a common height for many East Kent Gisby men both then and now.
Tom began his naval career at HMS Ganges in Shotley on the Sussex coast. This was the shore training establishment for boy entrants into the Royal Navy. It aimed over a period of about a year to turn the boys into highly skilled, disciplined sailors. Its regime was notoriously harsh, however, as is evident in these extracts from The Legend of HMS Ganges, the famous poem by the naval historian, John Douglas:
“Do just as you are told, lad, make do with what you got!
Obey the orders, Boy! No ‘ifs’ or ‘buts!’” Ganges discipline was ‘hot’, and some went ‘on the trot’, But they dragged ’em back and lashed ’em with twelve ‘cuts’. Ganges motto states at length, that “Wisdom, it is strength!” Is there one of you who wouldn't go again? Tho’ you flogged us an’ you flayed us, by the livin’ God what made us; You took us on as boys – and made us men! |
Tom survived eight months of “Ganges discipline”, during which period his rating rose from Boy Second Class to Boy First Class to Signal Boy. Then he spent another year training at Chatham Dockyard in Kent before he was ready at the age of seventeen to be part of a ship’s company and go to sea.
In March 1917, at the height of the Great War, he joined his first ship, the Dreadnought battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth, which at that time was based with the Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow in the remote Orkney Islands of Scotland. The Queen Elizabeth had already been in action, having taken part in the Dardanelles naval campaign against the Turks in March 1915. Although she narrowly missed the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 due to being in dock for maintenance, her most memorable role was still to come.
It was on board the Queen Elizabeth, at the head of the Grand Fleet in the Firth of Forth in Scotland, that the terms of surrender of the German High Seas Fleet were presented to Admiral Von Reuter on 21st November 1918. The following description of the surrender was posted from the ship by the special correspondent of The Times of London:
In March 1917, at the height of the Great War, he joined his first ship, the Dreadnought battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth, which at that time was based with the Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow in the remote Orkney Islands of Scotland. The Queen Elizabeth had already been in action, having taken part in the Dardanelles naval campaign against the Turks in March 1915. Although she narrowly missed the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 due to being in dock for maintenance, her most memorable role was still to come.
It was on board the Queen Elizabeth, at the head of the Grand Fleet in the Firth of Forth in Scotland, that the terms of surrender of the German High Seas Fleet were presented to Admiral Von Reuter on 21st November 1918. The following description of the surrender was posted from the ship by the special correspondent of The Times of London:
Losing its Soul
Surrender of German Navy
Surrender of German Navy
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Young Tom Gisby, now an Ordinary Signalman, was an eyewitness to that momentous event and probably cheered Admiral Beatty along with the rest of the ratings. Tom may also have been a witness to another momentous, though significantly less jubilant, event the following June, when the German Fleet, interned in Gutter Sound at Scapa Flow after the surrender, was scuttled by Admiral Von Reuter’s men under the noses of their British captors.
Like both his older brothers, Tom would have been awarded the Victory Medal and the British War Medal for his service during the Great War. In addition, he was paid a War Gratuity by the Royal Navy.
The War may well have been over, but for nineteen year-old Tom there was still a long way to go before his “dozen” was up.
Like both his older brothers, Tom would have been awarded the Victory Medal and the British War Medal for his service during the Great War. In addition, he was paid a War Gratuity by the Royal Navy.
The War may well have been over, but for nineteen year-old Tom there was still a long way to go before his “dozen” was up.