Beschreibung:

(x) Five: Chief Electrical Artificer 1st Class W. T. Child, Royal Navy, who served aboard Iron Duke at the Battle of Jutland Africa General Service 1902-56, 1 clasp, Somaliland 1902-04 (W. T. Child, Electrician 4th Cl., H.M.S. Fox); 1914-15 Star (345649 W. T. Child. E.A.1, R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (345649 W. T. Child. C.E.A. 2. R.N.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 1st issue (345649 William T. Child. Ch. Elec. Art. 2 Cl., H.M.S. Iron Duke), the first with re-riveted suspension claw, contact marks, very fine (5) William Thomas Child was born on 20 July 1879 at Stratford, London. He was the youngest of the seven children of George and Hannah Child; his father worked as a brass finisher in the London Minories, Bethnal Green. In 1901 William was still living at home with his parents and employed as a fitter and turner. On 22 September 1902 he enlisted in the Royal Navy as an Electrician. After training at Vernon (Torpedo School at Portsmouth) he joined Hyacinth, then Fox, both second-class protected cruisers on the East Indies station. In 1904 Fox participated in the operations against the 'Mad Mullah', patrolling the Red Sea and Indian Ocean coasts, and on 21 April 1904 landed a force at Illig, which destroyed fortifications and killed some fifty-six Dervishes. Over the following ten years Child served in the following ships - between periods ashore - including Racer (composite gunboat), Duke of Edinburgh (armoured cruiser in the Channel Squadron), Latona (an old cruiser of 1892), Ariadne (a cruiser of 1902) and Superb, a modern battleship in the Home Fleet. During this time he was promoted to Electrical Artificer 1st Class and awarded three Good Conduct badges. In July 1903 he was married at Portsmouth. In March 1914 Child was posted to Iron Duke, which had just been completed. In August 1914 she became the flagship of Sir John Jellicoe Commander in Chief of the Home Fleet. Some ratings did not like serving in a flagship as the discipline was very strict and there would be a great deal of ceremonial for the coming and going of the Flag Officer concerned and other senior officers who attended conferences on board; nevertheless, Admiral Jellicoe was personally very popular and inspired great loyalty and affection from his subordinates. Iron Duke was only in action once - the Battle of Jutland, on 31 May-1 June 1916. A fellow Electrical Artificer in one of the other battleships gave an account of his duties as the fleet steamed into the North Sea: 'Usual activity on deck, securing against rough weather, getting boats inboard, closing watertight compartments, etc. I proceed to my usual routine, first to inform the engineroom staff that air compressors are needed. Then to forward submerged torpedo flat. Fleet orders are that all torpedoes are to be topped up from normal air pressure of 2,200 PSI to 2,500 PSI to give longer range. The torpedo crew are assisting the Petty Officer Instructor to withdraw torpedoes from the tubes to fit warheads with firing pistols, also spare primers and pistols are being brought to the 'ready' for immediate use. I check firing gear and instruments from conning tower firing position. Topping up completed, I then proceed to various compartments around the ship to close stop valves on the air ring main so that in the event of damage, each gun turret is independently supplied. This high pressure and water is automatically blown through the gun as the breach opens to douse any burning debris left and to cool the gun barrel.' The Battle Fleet was originally deployed in six columns of four ships each, steaming abreast. At around 18:00hrs on 31 May Jellicoe knew that a meeting with the German Fleet was imminent and gave the order to deploy in a single line of battle, with the port wing column leading. As George Bonney recalls in The Battle of Jutland 1916: 'This tremendous decision, on which in truth hung the fate of the Fleet and the nation, was taken by Jellicoe in this period of extreme stress