| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
Arthur Willison was born in Beverley the 22 Mar 1894, the son of Stephen and Betsey Willison (nee Robinson). He attended Minster Moorgate Infants and Minster Boys School. He worked on the farm of Thomas Wilson in Beverley Parks before joining the Royal Navy.
Arthur served aboard HMS Bulwark which, on 26 Nov 1914, was anchored off Sheerness in Kent taking onboard ammunition. At 7.35am there was an explosion in the ships’ magazine and when the smoke cleared the ship had gone, 750 men were aboard that morning and of that number 14 survived the initial sinking, however, two died later of their injuries.The bodies of most of the men onboard, including Arthur, were never found, but 82 of the crew are buried in Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham. There are memorials to the crew in the cemetery and at Sheerness dock.
It is believed that the cause of the accident was the incorrect storage of the ammunition being taken onboard that day. The magazine shared a wall with the ships’ boiler room and ammunition may have been stacked against the wall causing the shells to overheat and explode. He was posthumously awarded the 1914 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |