Chatham in the Great War by Stephen Wynn

Author:Stephen Wynn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2016-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

The submarine UB-122 was a late addition to the German Imperial Navy, having only been launched on 2 February 1918 and commissioned at Bremen on 4 March 1918, under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Alexander Magnus, who, though aged only 25, had already been awarded the Iron Cross, both 1st and 2nd Class. UB-122 only carried out two patrols and on both occasions she did not see any action. She was surrendered to the British authorities on 24 November 1918, in line with the conditions of the Armistice. She would have had a complement of three officers and thirty-one crewmen.

After the Armistice and Germany’s surrender, about one hundred of her submarines were sailed by their crews to Harwich. Some time later, possibly as late as 1921, and after parts of the vessels such as their engines were removed, most of them were destined to be scrapped. UB-122 is believed to have broken her tow line en route to her final destination, and was washed into the River Medway. At low tide the remains of what is believed to have been this vessel, can still be clearly seen on a remote part of the Kent marshes, having resurfaced some ninety-two years after she disappeared. A few were maintained as submarines and provided to Allied navies.

Kent Australians who fell in The Great War

Amateur Historian Andrew Bratley, who was born in Maidstone, Kent, but who now lives in Perth, Western Australia, has researched those men who were born in Kent, but who served in and subsequently died whilst fighting with the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). He discovered 223 men who had lost their lives in this way; eighteen of them were from the areas of Chatham, Gillingham and Rochester. With Andrew’s kind permission this part of his research is included below.

Private Thomas Ronald Biggs (3357) was a 20-year-old private in the 59th Battalion AIF when he was killed in action on 25 April 1918. He is buried at the Adelaide Cemetery, in the Somme region of France.

His parents, Thomas and Mary Biggs, had previously lived at 22 Fox Street, Gillingham and by profession Thomas Senior was a painter and decorator. Thomas junior was the eldest of three brothers; Reginald and Frederick were both too young to have served in the war.

It is not clear when and why Thomas left England to live in Australia, but it was after 1911 as he appears on the UK Census of that year, when he was only 13 years of age.

Private William Thomas Buckley (6957) was a 23-year-old private in the 4th Battalion AIF. He was born on 27 April 1895 at Gillingham and lived with his parents, William and Alice Buckley, along with his two elder sisters, Margurette, Ethel and his elder brother Alfred, at 105 Kingswood Road, Gillingham. It is not known if Alfred served his country during the war, although he was old enough to have done so.

William was killed in action at Démuin, France on 13 September 1918. He is buried in the Roisel Communal Cemetery on the Somme.

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