Arthur Frederick Haxell was born in Romford, Essex on the 17th June 1898 to Ellen and Frederick Haxell. He was the eldest male of five children, four of whom were boys and one older girl, Nellie Haxell. Birth records inform us that his younger brother Albert was born in Belvedere in 1905. It is unclear why they moved into Erith, where he is listed as living at 54 Cross Street, as both parents were born and lived in Essex for many years. However, the 1901 Census lists the Haxells as living in Romford, we can be certain that the family moved to the area sometime between 1901 and 1905.
On 2nd June 1902 Arthur and Nellie both started at Greening Road School in Greenwich and the family were living at 10 Wymans Farm. By 1911 the family were living at 18, Orchard Road, Welling. At this time Arthur Haxell is still listed as in attendance at school. After his school days he worked as a Mill hand until he signed on to serve in the Royal Navy for the war. He was one of the many to lie about his age, his stated date of birth being a year earlier. On his first day of service, he had just reached his 18th birthday but his records read that he was 19 years old.
Arthur’s naval record lists key features about him. He is recorded as being 5 foot and four inches with a 35 and a half inch chest and a “fresh” complexion with blue eyes. His character was described as ‘very good’ thoughout his service and his ability started as ‘satisfactory’ but was noted as ‘superior’ later on.
Upon entering the Royal Navy he was given the service number K/34514 as a Stoker 1st Class. These men would shovel coal into the ships boiler. Haxell served in H.M.S Pembroke from June to October 1915. This was a stone frigate based at Chatham. Following this he Served on H.M.S Dartmouth from 21st October 1916 until June 1917 where he subsequently returned to H.M.S Pembroke until his death on the 3rd/4th September 1917.
There is much controversy and surrounding the events which led up to his death. At 9.30pm on the 3rd September 1917, 5 Gotha G.V bombers left their air base at Gontrode in Belgium. British anti-aircraft defences had forced the German air force to switch to night-time raids over Britain; this was to be the first of such raids. One aircraft had to return following engine problems. However, by 11pm the other aircraft found the River Medway and headed towards Chatham. Their target was the Naval Base H.M.S Pembroke, where Arthur was stationed. The unsuspecting British were not prepared for the attack; all of Chatham was illuminated and anti-aircraft defences were not prepared. When the aircraft were spotted many people ignored the warning as they believed it was a practice drill.
Tragically, one bomb fell and hit H.M.S. Pembroke’s Drill Hall building. The clock above the Drill Hall stopped at exactly 11.12pm giving us the exact time it exploded. The men that were asleep were either injured from the explosion or killed by glass falling from the roof. Rescuers subsequently spent 17 hours looking through the rubble. By the end of the raid the total number of dead stood at 98, yet with the later inclusion of injured men in hospital this raised to 136.
An eyewitness, Mr Gideon Gardner, recorded: “Some had never woken up; apparently the shock appeared to have stopped their hearts. They were stretched out, white, gaunt, drawn faces, with eyes nearly bolting out of their heads. Others were greatly cut up, mangled, bleeding and some were blown limb from limb”
Mr E. Cronk recalled: “In the morning, to show that the officials could tell who was who, they had a general Pipe asking all the sailors of different messes if they could identify any of the lost; it was impossible in most cases. It was one of the most terrible nights I have ever known, the crying and the moaning of dying men who had ten minutes before been fast asleep”
The raid, which later became known as the Chatham air raid, lead to the destruction of the drill hall and two ships. This was part of Operation “Turkenkreuz”; a strategy designed to bomb London and South East England into submission. However, this was too late in the war to have a significant effect. Arthur Haxell is listed as perishing in this raid. We do not know if he was one of the sailors who died in the drill hall yet there is a strong possibility he was. After the air raid the 98 sailors who died at the scene were buried on the 6th September 1917 at Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham. Their coffins were draped with the Union Jack and given full military honors. Thousands of people lined the streets to pay their respects. Arthur Haxell was one of the individuals laid to rest here.
Our thanks to Arthur Haxell’s family for supplying and allowing us to publish the images below.
Commemorated
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This story has been researched by volunteers. We have taken every effort to ensure its accuracy. If you are related to Arthur Frederick Haxell, or if you have any further information, please do get in touch.