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219883Cpl. Herbert Victor Chamberlin
British Army 3rd/1st East Anglian Field Ambulance Royal Army Medical Corps
from:Wroxham, Norfolk
(d.13th Aug 1915)
Herbert Chamberlin died with many others when the ship he was in, the H.T. Royal Edward, was sunk off Greece on 13th August 1915on the way to Gallipoli . His name appears on the Cape Helles Memorial.
On 28th July 1915, Royal Edward embarked 1,367 officers and men at Avonmouth. The majority were reinforcements for the British 29th Infantry, with members of the Royal Army Medical Corps. All were destined for Gallipoli. Royal Edward was reported off the Lizard on the evening of the 28th, and had arrived at Alexandria on 10 August, a day after sister ship Royal George had sailed from Devonport. Royal Edward sailed for Moudros on the island of Lemnos, a staging point for the Dardanelles. On the morning of 13th August, Royal Edward passed the British hospital ship Soudan, heading in the opposite direction. Oberleutnant zur See Heino von Heimburg in the German submarine UB-14 was off the island of Kandeloussa and saw both ships. He allowed Soudan to pass unmolested, and focused his attention on the unescorted Royal Edward some 6 nautical miles (11 km) off Kandeloussa. He launched one of UB-14's two torpedoes from about a mile (2 km) away and hit Royal Edward in the stern. She sank by the stern within six minutes.
Royal Edward was able to get off an SOS before losing power, and Soudan arrived on the scene at 10:00 after making a 180° turn and rescued 440 men in six hours. Two French destroyers and some trawlers rescued another 221. According to authors James Wise and Scott Baron, Royal Edward's death toll was 935 and was high because Royal Edward had just completed a boat drill and the majority of the men were below decks re-stowing their equipment. Other sources report different numbers of casualties, from 132 to 1,386 or 1,865.
Additional Information:
His brother, Arthur, was killed in action in France on 8th June 1918 whilst serving with the Royal EngineersSimon Woodward
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