No.28, Private, George Sidney EATON
Aged 25
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Born on 21st April 1890 in Bury St.Edmunds ( 2nd qtr 4a:708 ) son of Arthur and Catherine EATON (née WHITING)
1891 census...Aged 1, Sidney was at 28 Victoria Street, Bury St Edmunds with his mother Catherine EATON [32] born Thorpe Morieux; sister (Alice) Kate [6] brother Cecil [3]. All the children were born in Bury St.Edmunds. His father Arthur EATON [33] an horticultural iron fitter born Bishopsgate, Middlesex was a boarder at 45 Nicholas Street, Shoreditch. Brother Frederick not found in this census. 1901 census...Aged 10, Sidney was still at 28 Victoria Street with his parents; brothers Frederick [17] iron fitter, Cecil [12] and Alfred [2]; sisters Alice [16], Elizabeth [7] and Beatrice [3]. All the children born in Bury St.Edmunds. 1911 census...Aged 20, George was a seedsman's assistant, at 26 Victoria Street with his parents; brothers Frederick William (horticultural engineer), Percy Albert [15] errand boy and Alfred Robert; sisters Alice Kate (cook/general domestic) and Beatrice Maud Victoria [13]domestic nursemaid. His mother had borne 11 children but 3 had died. THey were Arthur Ernest (1886-1888), Ellen (1894-1895) and Edith Ellen (1902-1902) He married Lilian Gertrude STEVENS [23-4-1881] in Icklingham on 15th July 1915. She lived at 6 Ford Street, Thetford. |
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He enlisted in Ipswich on 20th August 1914 in the R.A.M.C. No.28, a shop assistant born in Bury St.edmunds, aged 24 years 4 months, single. He was 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighed 140 lbs, chest 32 to 33.5 inches hazel eyes dark hair, Church of England. Next of kin his mother of 26 Victoria Street, Bury St.Edmunds, changed to wife at 6 Ford Street, Thetford. Posted to MEF on 29th July 1915 on "Royal Edward", arriving Alexandria 11th August and sailing on "Royal Edward" next day to Gallipoli, but ship torpedoed en route from Alexandria on 13h August and George posted missing, believed drowned., Some explanation for George's death comes from http://www.paulinedodd.com/from-norfolk-to-gallipoli.html Another great source for this incident is here http://royaledward.net "These men volunteered to join the Essex Regiment and appear to have constituted the drafts of June 23 and July 24 1915. They were part of the reinforcements carried by the transport "Royal Edward" which was torpedoed and sunk in the Aegean Sea on August 14th 1915. She sank two and a half minutes after the torpedo struck her. Of the 1,400 men she carried just over 600 were saved, and the drowned included all but 18 of the 300 Norfolk men." On the morning of 13 August, HMTS Royal Edward passed HMHS Soudan, heading in the opposite direction. Oberleutnant zur See Heino von Heimburg in German submarine UB-14 was lying near the island of Kandeloussa and saw both ships. He allowed Soudan to pass unmolested, and instead concentrated on the unescorted Royal Edward, 6 nautical miles (11 km) off Kandeloussa. A single torpedo was enough to sink the Royal Edward, who just had time to send out an SOS signal. The Soudan picked up the signal and reversed course and managed to save just over 400. The Royal Army Medical Corps lost 4 officers and 143 men UB-14 was a coastal torpedo attack boat, carrying just two torpedoes. She sank 6 ships to a total of 25,500 tons and was scuttled near Sebastapol in 1919. Her captain went on to be a Vizeadmiral in 1942, At the end of WWII Soviet forces abducted Heino von Heimburg, then a 55-year-old retired naval officer and transported him to a POW camp near Stalingrad. He died there in October 1945. |
UB-14
