No.20687, Lance Corporal, Frank Frederick COOTE
Aged 21
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Frank Frederick Coote was born in Steeple Bumpstead (Risbridge Q4-1893 4A:670), son of Frederick and Fanny COOTE. ( née UNDERWOOD), who died in 1894 Q4, quite possibly at the time of Frank's birth. Despite his birth registration as Frank Frederick, it seems only the Army used his Christian name of Frank
1901 census... Frederick, aged 7, was at Church Street, Steeple Bumpstead with his grandfather Thomas COOTE [68] farm labourer; his grandmother Emma [62] and his widower father Frederick [36] farm labourer. All were born in Steeple Bumpstead. 1911 census...Frederick, aged 17, was at his grandfather's house still, but grandmother Emma had died. Also there was his father and widowed aunt Kate KEMP [58] |
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Frank enlisted in the Norfolk Regiment in Haverhill, by his number, sometime in 1912.
His medal index card indicates he was in France right at the start of the war, so it would seem that his relatives neglected to claim (or were unaware that they had to claim) the clasp to his 1914 Star War Medal. For many of those on board the "Royal Edward" it was their first trip overseas and as they never reached the war zone, they did not qualify for the Victory Medal, only the British War Medal. The initial draft of the 1st Battalion sailed from Avonmouth on 21st March 1915 for Gallipoli, going via Egypt and Mudros. Landed at Cape Helles 25 April 1915. Some explanation for Frederick'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." Frank Coote's name is on the list of those Essex Regiment men missing from the Royal Edward, published in The Times on 6th September 1915. 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. 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. |
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