In my family archive I have a small cutting titled “27,000 MILES TO VISIT FATHER’S GRAVE”
This is just the thing that piques my interest and encourages me to find out more. Well here is the story!
Ernest Alfred Berry was born on 10th December 1870 in Taunton, Somerset , the son of an umbrella-maker Alfred Berry and his wife Annie. When a few months old, the family moved to Acton in West London and Ernest attended St Mary’s School there. As a teenager he added a year onto his age to join the Royal Navy where he served on board HMS Hercules and later HMS Crocodile. Although his character is described as very good, he was deemed to be unfit for service at sea. However he clearly remained in the navy as, in 1889, he was an acting-gunner on board HMS Cambridge and by 1893 he was a gunner and transferred to HMS Landrail, a torpedo gun vessel.
Ernest’s military service took him to South Africa where he met and married Jemima Johanna Minchinton (known as Minnie) in April 1899. They settled in Mesemberg (Muizenberg) a coastal suburb of Cape Town where he became a farmer. The couple had four children Disa, Athol, Clement and Donovan.
At the outbreak of the Great War, Ernest joined the South African Infantry but on 4th May 1918 secured a commission with the newly formed Royal Air Force. He was appointed as a Second Lieutenant in the RAF School of Photography. Aerial photography was a new military discipline and soon became a vital resource to map enemy trenches and positions. It is likely that Ernest was immediately sent to the front line as he died just a few weeks later. It is unclear how Ernest received his fatal injury, but newspaper reports say the he received ‘wounds sustained whilst in action’. He was evacuated to Sussex and died in Eastbourne Military Hospital (later St Mary’s Hospital, Old Town) on 6th August 1918. He was buried with Military Honours at Ocklynge Cemetery ( Grave R321)
Amazingly his brother Harry Newman Berry attended the funeral although at the time had no idea that the deceased airman was actually his brother! Harry had settled in Eastbourne where he had joined the Royal Naval Voluntary Reserve. (He was a keen boxer too – he fought under the name Harry Berry of Acton). Harry had not seen his brother for over 23 years and later contacted Jemima, Ernest’s wife in South Africa. Athol, Ernest’s 17-year-old son was determined to travel to England to see the grave of his father. Athol had to work the 27,000 mile passage to Eastbourne and this took nearly a year. He first worked on a three-masted schooner to Australia then via Cape Horn to the east coast of America and finally to England. The press reported that it was a ‘pathetic scene’ when Athol, accompanied by his uncle Harry visited the grave at Ocklynge.
Athol remained in England and in 1927 got married in Salford Lancashire. He settled with his wife at 2, Alexandra Park, Salford but remained in the Merchant Navy. His last ship was the Glasgow steamer SS Vardulia. He was listed as an Able Seaman.
On 12th October 1935 the Vardulia set of from West Hartlepool laden with coal and chemicals. Her destination was Botwood on Newfoundland, Canada. At 6.48am on 19th October 1935 the Vardulia was in heavy seas 400 miles west of Scotland when it sent a distress message “WANT IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE – HAVE TAKEN A DANGEROUS LIST” Two minutes later another message was received by a nearby ship “NOW ABANDONING SHIP”. All 37 crew members including Athol Berry were lost.
Athol’s Uncle Harry moved from Eastbourne to Bristol and later to Shurdington, Gloucester. In 1938, at the age of 70 years he dived fully clothed off a 40-foot cliff in Cornwall to rescue two girls struggling in the water. Newspaper reports say that he had rescued seven people from drowning – quite a record. He died in Gloucester Infirmary in 1946 aged 77 years and was buried at King’s Stanley Churchyard.
Although I have no idea why the original newspaper cutting was retained by my grandparents, it has led to an interesting story.
Sources:
Gordon Family Archives
Ancestry.com
National Newspaper Archives
Ghostfishing.co.uk Website
RAF Photographers Memorial Website
Quirky Sussex History by Kevin Gordon 