| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
John Thirsk was born in Beverley the 28 Oct 1880 the son of Robert Thirsk, NER clerk, and his wife Susannah (nee Armstrong), they married at Beverley Minster in Jun 1880. John was brought up on Beckside and Trinity Terrace, Beverley. John initially worked for the railway before on 25 Oct 1898 he joined the Royal Navy and served continuously until 1922 as a Petty Officer.
John worked as a signaller and reached the rank of Yeoman of Signals in 1907. During the war John served on vessels involved in minelaying. He began the war on HMS Intrepid, a converted cruiser, based at Dover for Channel minelaying duties. From Mar 1915 to May 1916 he served in the Meditterranean on an Italian ship, Orvieto, which may have been involved in the Gallipoli campaign. He was awarded the Italian Bronze Medal for an unknown act of heroism. John then served on HMS Wahine from Jul 1916 to Apr 1917, an ex-New Zealand vessel, serving in the 1st Mine Laying Squadron in the North Sea. Again in unknown circumstances, but possibly when mines being laid went off, John was Mentioned in Dispatches. From Apr 1917 he served on HMS Ariadne but this ship was torpedoed by German U-Boat UC-65 off Beachy Head on 31 Jul 1917. John was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for his actions on that day. He spent the rest of the war on converted ocean liner, HMS Princess Margaret, and converted cruiser, HMS Amphitrite, again on minelaying tasks. John was also awarded the 1914-15 Star and the War and Victory Medals.
John left the Navy in 1922 with a pension but it is not known if he returned to Beverley. It seems that his parents separated after Robert was sent to prison for six months in 1907 for embezzlement. John's brother, Robert Reginald Thirsk, born in 1897, and later a gamekeeper at Burton Constable, served in the army in the war in the 5th Yorkshire Regiment and later the Machine Gun Corps. He was invalided out of service and received a Silver Badge.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |