On 28 September 1895

Royal Navy Service

Eli Few

Compiled by Peter Gerard Few

FOREWORD

On 28 September 1895, at the age of 24, Eli enlisted in the Royal Navy for a term of 12 years. He re-enlisted on 28 September 1907 “to complete time for pension”.

Eli served on a number of ships during his long naval career, which spanned 26 years. He was a Ship’s Cook, rising to Leading Cooks Mate and Chief Petty Officer by the time he was demobilised.

During his career, Eli was involved in three significant and historical naval actions. The first of these was in June 1900, when he landed with the Naval Brigade in China, during the Boxer Rebellion. For his involvement in operations at Tientsin, he was awarded the China Medal, with a relief of Peking clasp.

During the 1st World War, Eli saw action, whilst serving on the HMS Bacchante, at the Battle of Heligoland Bight and at Gallipoli, during the allied expedition to the Dardanelles. HMS Bacchante received battle honours for both actions. It was at Gallipoli on 6 August 1915 when Eli was ashore with a beach party that he was wounded in operations at Kaba Tepe. He was hit by a “shrapnel bullet” (see Certificate of Wounds and Hurts below). It was while he was recovering from these wounds that he was given the walking stick that is still in the family today. The wound Eli received bothered him for the rest of his life. Eli was invalided at Chatham 30 April 1919 and on 12 May 1921 he was demobilised.

During his service in the R.N., Eli’s character and ability were generally described as being “Very Good” and “Good,” but during the first years of service, his first two Good Conduct badges were alternately being granted, deprived and restored. After his third good conduct badge was granted on 16 August 1917, he seems to have settled down and kept all three until the end of his term in the navy.

After he left the navy, Eli, who was nearing 50, returned to his trade of boot making and was living at Iver Villa, Iver, in Buckinghamshire, where he met the woman who was to become his second wife, Mary Marlow. Eli’s first wife’s name, Elsie, is penciled in on his service certificate, the marriage probably occurred after Eli’s enlistment in the Navy. It is possible that Elsie’s death coincided with Eli’s request for a shore posting on 3 December 1912, which is co-incidentally; the same period that Eli’s Service Record shows a decline in the performance of his duties.

The following is a transcription of Eli Few’s Certificate of Service:

First Entry in the Service	Ship	Date	Official Number
First Entry in the Service	Division, Chatham	28 Sep 1895	340 877

Date of Birth: 20 December 1873

Where Born: Parish Willingham,

Town or County: Nth Cambridge

Usual Place of Residence: Siccamore Villa, Willingham, Nth Cambridge

Trade brought up to: Shoemaker

Religious Denomination: C of E Group 15.

Boot Maker

Can Swim: Yes

Continuous Service Engagements							Medals, Clasps, etc.
Date of actually volunteering	Commencement of time			Period volunteered for			Date Received		Nature of Decoration
9 May 1895	28 Sep 95			12 years			29 May 02		China Medal
28 Sep 1907				To complete time for pension			13 Jan 19		Duplicate China 1900 medal, relief of Peking clasp
10 August 14				To complete time for pension			30 Oct 1922		1914-15 Star British War Medal Victory Medal
Description of Person		Stature			Colour of					Marks, Wounds
		Feet	Inches		Complexion	(Hair)		Eyes
On Entry as a Boy		-	-		-	-		-		-
On advancement to man’s rating, or on entry under 28 years		5	5		Dark	Dark		Grey		Nil
On re-entry for O.S. or for Non-C.S. after attaining 28 years		5	4 1/2		Dark	Dark		Grey		Small mole left arm

Name Eli Few Service

Ship’s Name	List and No.		Rating	From	To	Cause of Discharge
Victory	16	15.1	Act 2^nd Cks Mte	28 Sep 95	8 Nov 95	Rated
Victory	16	15.1	2^nd Cks Mte	9 Nov 95	10 Jan 96	Ganges
Ganges	5E	71	2^nd Cks Mte	16 Jan 96	12 Nov 96	Vivid
Vivid	15	7962	2^nd Cks Mte	13 Nov 96	1 Mar 97	Thunderer
Thunderer	5E	29	2^nd Cks Mte	2 Mar 97	31 May 97	Rated
Thunderer	5E	29	Cook’s Mate	1 Jun 97	1 Jul 98	Vivid
Vivid	-	-	Cook’s Mate	2 Jul 98	5 Jul 98	Grafton (?)
Blenheim	16F	23	Cook’s Mate	6 Jul 98	30 Sep 98	Barfleur
Barfleur	15	2	Cook’s Mate	1 Oct 98	7 Oct 98	Grafton
Grafton	5E	100	Cook’s Mate	8 Oct 98	21 Jul 99	Tamar
Tamar	15A	107	Cook’s Mate	22 Jul 99	28 Aug 99	Tweed
Tweed	16	54	Cook’s Mate	28 Aug 99	26 Jan 00	Tamar
Tamar	?	107	Cook’s Mate	26 Jan 00	29 Jan 00	Centurion
Centurion	15	286	Cook’s Mate	30 Jan 00	19 Sep 01	Paid off
Vivid	15	?	do	20 Sep 01	11 Nov 01	-
A. of Wellington	15	-	do	12 Nov 01	4 Mar 02	Vivid
Vivid	15	?	do	5 Mar 02	9 Mar 02	-
Impregnable	16	132	Cook’s Mate	10 Mar 02	8 Apr 02	-
Lion	16	423	do	9 Apr 02	23 Apr 02	-
Impregnable	16	132	Cook’s Mate	.. Apr 02	31 Dec 02	-
Impregnable	16	132	2^nd Ships Cook	1 Jan 03	18 Jun 03	-
Cambridge	5E	183	2^nd Ships Cook	19 Jun 03	24 Oct 04	-
Vivid	15	1528	2^nd Ships Cook	25 Oct 04	8 Nov 04	-
Lauder? (Aufler)	15	5.	2^nd Ships Cook	9 Nov 04	29 Dec 04	-
Vivid	15	1764	2^nd Ships Cook	30 Dec 04	8 Mar 05	-
Hecla (Whiting)	?	68	2^nd Ships Cook	9 Mar 05	10 Dec 05	-
Hecla (Hart)	12B	87	2^nd Ships Cook	11 Dec 05	22 Mar 06	-
Tamar (Hart)	12B	92	2^nd Ships Cook	23 Mar 06	11 Dec 06	-
Tamar (Hart)	12B	29	Cook’s Mate	12 Dec 06	13 Dec 06	-
Kent	5E	64	Cook’s Mate	14 Dec 06	19 Jul 07	-
Crescent	15E.	6	Cook’s Mate	20 Jul 07	3 Oct 07	-
Vivid	15	133.	Cook’s Mate	4 Oct 07	20 Dec 07	-
Indus	5E2	36	Cook’s Mate	21 Dec 07	21 Jun 08	-
Indus	5E2	36	Ldg Cook’s Mate	22 Jun 08	15 Dec 08	-
Vivid	15	526	Ldg Cook’s Mate	16 Dec 08	26 Feb 09	-
Warrior	?	10	Ldg Cook’s Mate	27 Feb 09	26 Apr 11	-
Pembroke	?	968	?	27 Apr 11	3 Sep 12	-
Blenheim (Beagle)	?	227	?	4 Sep 12	18 Oct 12	-
Blenheim (Beagle)	?	227	Cook’s Mate	19 Oct 12	30 Oct 12	-
Pembroke	15	149	Cook’s Mate?	31 Oct 12	2 Dec 12	-
Chatham	5D2	2	Cook’s Mate?	3 Dec 12	7 Apr 13	Shore – (wd) own request
Pembroke	?	?	Cook’s Mate	10 Aug 14	12 Aug 14
Bacchante	5D2	6	Cook’s Mate	13 Aug 14	5 Oct 15
Pembroke	?	?	Cook’s Mate	6 Oct 15	23 Dec 15
Satellite	?	?	Cook’s Mate	24 Dec 15	21 Mar 16
Satellite	?	?	Ldg Cook’s Mate	22 Mar 16	3 Aug 18
Dido (Scott)	12	?	Ldg Cook’s Mate	4 Aug 18	28 Aug 18
Dido (?)	?	?	Ldg Cook’s Mate	29 Aug 18	16 Dec 18
Pembroke	?	?	Ldg Cook’s Mate	17 Dec 18	28 May 19	Invalided Chatham 30 Apr 19

“War Badge Issued”

Pembroke 620 LCDR? Capt 12 May 21 Demobilised

Date	Wounds received in Action and Hurt Certificate; also for any meritorious Service, Special recommendations, Prize or other Grants	Captain’s Signature
Jun 1900	Landed with Naval Brigade, Taku, China. Operations at Tientsin.	-
17 Nov 02	China Grant 1900 paid	-
6 Aug 15	Wounded in operations at Kaba Tepe, Gallipoli. (Granted certificate for wounds).	-
10 Dec 17	Paid prize money for Heligoland Bight	-
31 May 21	Paid ₤7 10d Naval Prize Fund	-
26 Oct 21	Paid Prize Bty for (wd) of Bremerhaven 4–10-14?	-
29? Oct 22	Final Share of Naval Prize Fund Paid	-
2? Feb 1924	Supplementary Prize Share Paid	-

Gunnery Torpedo and other Examinations and Notations
Date	Particulars	Captain’s signature	Date	Particulars	Captain’s Signature
31 Dec 95	Qual for Cook’s Mate	-	16 Aug 11	Qual for Ship’s Cook	-
24 Feb 02	Qual for 2^nd Ship’s Cook	-	15 May 18	Granted Chevrons for 1914-15	-
12 May 11	Failed for Ship’s Cook (put back for 3 mths

Name Eli Few Conduct

Second Class for Conduct inclusive dates					Character, Ability in Rating, Recommendations for Medal and Gratuity (R.M.G.) on 31 December each year and on Discharge from the Service
From	To	Yrs.		Days	Character	Ability	R.M.G.	Date	Capt’s Sig
10 Nov 96	?	?		?	V.G.	V.G.	-	31 Dec 95	-
					?	V.G.	-	31 Dec 96	-
Good Conduct Badges					V.G.	V.G.	-	31 Dec 97	-
Date	1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd		Granted, Deprived, Restored		V.G.	V.G.	-	31 Dec 98	-
?	?		?		Good	V.G.	-	31 Dec 99	-
?	?		Granted		V.G.	V.G.	-	31 Dec 00	-
4 Aug 9.	1^st		Deprived		V.G.	V.G.	-	31 Dec 01	-
4 Jul 00	1^st		Restored		V.G.	V.G.	-	31 Dec 02	-
11 … 04	2^nd		Granted		V.G.	V.G.	-	31 Dec 03	-
23 Sep 05	2^nd		Deprived		V.G.	V.G.	-	31 Dec 04	-
2. Mar 06	2^nd		Restored		Good	?	-	31 Dec 05	-
22 Aug 06	2^nd		Deprived		Good	Good	-	31 Dec 06	-
12 Dec 06	1^st		Deprived		Good	Good	-	31 Dec 07	-
12 Jun 07	1^st		Restored		V.G.	V.G.	-	31 Dec 08	-
1 Jul 07	1^st		Deprived		V.G.	V.G.	-	31 Dec 09	-
5 Jul 08	1^st		Restored		Good	V.G.	-	31 Dec 10	-
~~12 Sep 08~~	~~1^st~~		~~Deprived~~		V.G.	(Sat)	-	31 Dec 11	-
5 Jul 09	2^nd		Restored		Good	Sat	Ck’s Mte	31 Dec 12	-
26 Jul 10	2^nd		Deprived		V.G.	Sat	Ck’s Mte	7 Apr 13	-
2. Jan 11	2^nd		Restored		V.G.		Ck’s Mte	31 Dec 14	-
16 Oct 12	2^nd		Deprived		V.G.		Ck’s Mte	31 Dec 15	-
17 Feb 15	1^st		Restored		V.G.		-	31 Dec 16	-
17 Aug 15	2^nd		Restored		V.G.	Good?	?	31 Dec 17	-
16 Aug 17	3^rd		Granted		V.G.		?	31 Dec 18	-

Note: Eli’s birth date, as recorded on his Certificate of Service, is incorrect, his Birth Certificate records his correct date of birth as 1871.

m. 183 Revised Dec 1906

Transcribed from a photocopy of the original by Peter Gerard Few -

Certificate of Wounds and Hurts

These are to Certify the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty that

(Name in full) (Rank or Rating) (Official or Regimental No)

Eli Few Cooks Mate 340877

Belonging to His Majesty’s Ship “Bacchante” being then actually

upon His Majesty's Service in

Here describe The particular duty.	A beach party at Augue
* ”Injured” or “Wounded.” Date.	was *wounded on August 6^th 1915 by a shrapnel bullet which grazed his left tibia
Here describe minutely the nature of the injury sustained and the manner in which it occurred as required by articles 1205 1314 1349 and 1901A of the King.
“Sober” or “not sober”	He was Sober at the time.
Personal Description	Age about 43 years. Born at or near Willingham. Height 5^ft 4^1/2ins. Hair Dark going grey Eyes Grey Complexion Dark
Particular Marks or Scars	Small mole on left arm.

Date, Sept 27 1915

Signature of Commanding Officer of Ship

Or of Coast Guard or Marine Division

Rank Captain

Signature of Person who

Witnessed the accident

Feet

On Entry as a Boy

-