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Memorial
FOR HARRY GOLDSMITH
Harry Goldsmith was the son of Henry Goldsmith and his wife Emma
(nee Ladd). The couple also had three daughters, Ethel, Edith,
and Mabel.
Harry joined the Navy in
March 1914. He was lost on 20th January 1918, when his Monitor,
the HMS Raglan, was attacked by the cruisers Goeben and Breslau.
The Raglan sank in shallow water.
A family story states that
just six men survived, bringing home the log book, bullet-riddled flag, and
the tale that as the Raglan sank the men still on board sang,
"Rule Britannia".
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Harry, with two of his sisters,
Edith and Ethel. They are standing outside their
home on Bunker's Hill, one of the steepest hills in
Dover
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Harry with his older sister Mabel. She
always spoke of the day he died, and remembered him
as a "quiet, inoffensive boy". |
| Below is believed to be the last
picture ever taken of Harry, when they were coaling
up. Mabel received the picture after her brother had
died. |
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Left are Harry's parents in
Barham church, beneath the flag that was brought
home from the Raglan. It was eventually taken
away to be restored, but never returned.
Harry has no known grave, and
is commemorated
on
the Chatham Naval Memorial
Harry's parents at home. Mrs
Emma Elizabeth Goldsmith died on 15 October 1943
at 8 Hillside Road, her daughter's home, "after
many years of suffering patiently borne" |
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Footnotes:
During the Great War, Mabel worked for Scott's the dyers,
washing soldiers' uniforms in benzene. Her husband, Albert
Butterfield, was killed in 1917, serving with the Royal
Field Artillery. She later remarried.
Edith's husband,
Charles Richard Puckett, served during the Great War in
the Royal Navy, including service on the Hood. He recalled
how he sailed past the wreck of the Raglan, seeing the mast
in the water. Known as a cheerful joker, he was killed in
World War II, during the evacuation of Dunkirk. His tug, St
Abbs, was bombed at 09.50 on 1st June 1940, and sank within
45 seconds.
left: Emma Ladd with her mother
with grateful thanks to Ethel
Puckett and Harry Jarvis
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