Able-Seaman Arthur Charles John Guy
| Date of Birth | c.1878 |
|---|---|
| Age at Death | 36 |
| Date of Death | 22 September 1914 |
| Service Number | 181667 |
| Military Service | HMS Aboukir |
| Merton Address | 44 Havelock Road, South Wimbledon |
| Local Memorial |
Additional Information
Arthur Charles John Guy was born c1878 in Maidstone, Kent. He married circa 1899 and in 1911 was living in 44 Havelock Road, South Wimbledon with his wife Annie, aged 31, and their five children: Dorothy 10, Lucy 7, Fred 4, Mollie 2 and Ivy 1. He was employed as a ‘postal porter’ with the GPO.
Arthur Guy was still living in Havelock Road when war was declared. He was a naval reservist and he joined the Fleet on August 2nd on mobilisation. He was rated as a seaman-gunner and was captain of the casement guns on HMS Aboukir.
He was one of more than 1,450 men killed when the cruisers HMS Hogue, Aboukir and Cressy were torpedoed by a single German submarine on 22nd September 1914. The cruisers were on patrol roughly 40 miles west of Den Helder, providing a shield for the transport of men and material to the British Expeditionary Force on the fledgling Western Front. It was reported by survivors of the attack that he and his messmates were shut inside the casements “like rats” when the Aboukir heeled over. His wife was left with 6 children under 14.
Able Seaman Guy is remembered with honour on the Chatham Naval Memorial and on a memorial tablet on the south wall of the United Apostolic Church, Kohat Road, S.W.19 (formerly St. Peter’s Church)