Medals & Sailors of the Royal Navy 1880

Peter Liddle was born on the 1st January 1876 in the hamlet of Little Fodden outside the small town of Forres on the Moray coast of Scotland. He worked as a Fireman which referred to working with steam engines as opposed to the modern occupation of a fireman. On the 15th October 1895 at the age of 19 he enlisted into the Royal Navy at Portsmouth. His height was recorded as 5' 7" with brown/ red hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. It was noted he had a scar on his neck.

Peter spent a year based at Victory II a shore based training establishment before joining his first ship HMS Melpomene a Marathon Class Cruiser and sister ship to HMS Marathon and Magicienne on the 20th September 1896 for two months where he was rated as a Stoker 2nd Class.

HMS St. George

After his short service on HMS Melpomene Peter was sent straight to HMS St. George, an Edgar Class Cruiser, which was to be his home for the next year. It would appear that he served on Melpomene and was transferred to St George whilst at sea off the West African Coast.HMS St. George took part in the Benin Expedition of 1897 which was a punitive expedition by Great Britain which saw a force of 1,200 men, consisting of Naval Brigades and local troops, under the command of Admiral Sir Harry Rawson in response to the defeat of a previous British led invasion force under Acting Consul General James Philips which led to all but two men being killed. Rawson's troops captured, burned and looted Benin City bringing to an end the West African Kingdom of Benin. As a result of this expedition and the subsequent defeat much of the country's art, including the famous Benin Bronzes, was either destroyed, looted or dispersed. or his part in this campaign Peter was awarded the East and West Africa Medal with the clasp "Benin 1897". Peter had been in the Royal Navy just over two years and his conduct had been "Very Good" so far. Whilst serving on HMS St. George Peter had been rated as Stoker from 16th May 1897.

HMS Doris

The next ship Peter was to serve on was HMS Doris an Eclipse Class Cruiser launched in March 1896. It is likely that he transferred to Doris directly from St. George whilst off the West African Coast as Peter spends no time back home between his service on the two different ships. His time with Doris commences on the 29th December 1897 and he remains aboard her for the next 3 1/2 years. Peter spent 10 days in the cells between 23rd February and 6th March 1898 and this was reflected in his conduct being described as "Good" only for 1898.

Under the command of Captain R C Prothero, HMS Doris was the flagship of Vice- Admiral Sir Robert Harris when he was Commander in Chief, Cape Good Hope Station in South Africa1898 - 1900. In 1899 at least one of Doris's Quick Firing 4.7 inch guns was mounted on an improvised field carriage and used as a field gun in the Second Boer War. The gun used at Magersfontein was given the nickname Joe Chamberlain. The Naval Brigade landed from HMS Doris was present at many of the famous engagements of the war such as Modder River, Belmont, Paardeburg, Drifontein and Diamond Hill.

4.7 QF Gun from HMS Doris adapted for use on land during the Boer War

HMS Doris paid off in Devonport in May 1901. when, to honour the crew, the men of the other ships in the harbour spontaneously manned yards and sides and gave a salute. After a refit in June 1902 Doris was commissioned into the Channel Squadron with the crew drawn from HMS Arrogant. Peter did not land in South Africa during the Boer War therefore he was awarded the Queen's South Africa Medal with no clasp. Peter spent his second period of incarceration from 23rd March to 30th March 1900 during the war so it might have been that he did not get along with his superiors whilst on Doris. Captain Prothero did have a reputation as being a man with a foul temper who was feared by those officers and crew serving under him.

Following a brief stint aboard HMS Duke of Wellington saw Peter posted to HMS Vernon a shore base establishment which housed the Royal Navy's Torpedo School. Peter served at Vernon from August 1901 until November 1903. During his time at Vernon Peter was discharged to "Sick Quarters" between 6th July and 23rd July 1902 and managed to improve his conduct being rated as "Very Good" for 1901 and 1902.

Peter served on a variety of ships for the next ten years. He spent time on HMS Hawke another Edgar Class Cruiser and then HMS Leander an obsolete Protected Cruiser which had been launched in the 1880's but was being used as a Depot Ship for Torpedo Boats. His conduct continued to be rated as "Very Good" and he steadily rose from Stoker to Leading Stoker in 1904 and then to Stoker Petty Officer in 1906 and then in 1909 whilst serving on HMS Roxburgh, a Devonshire Class four funnelled Armoured Cruiser launched in 1904 that he passed the examination for Chief Stoker and had a note added to his Continuous Service sheet stating "Qualified to take charge of a stokehold - 23rd September 1909". On the 18th February Peter Liddle married Susie Florence Edwards, a spinster five years his junior, at the Register Office in Portsmouth. Peter also appears on the 1911 census with a note stating him to be a Presbytarian.

Peter was posted to HMS Renown in May 1912 and served on her for 18 months whilst the old pre-Dreadnought Battleship was being dismantled and eventually scrapped. Peter was rated as Acting Chief Stoker but by September he was rated as Chief Stoker. After leaving this obsolete vessel Peter was next assigned to one of the most modern ships in the Royal Navy, the Battlecruiser HMS Queen Mary.

HMS Queen Mary

HMS Queen Mary was launched on 20th March 1912 and was commissioned on the 4th September 1913 the day Peter joins her. She was the last battlecruiser built by the Royal Navy and incoroporated many of the same features as HMS Lion.

Queen Mary's first action was as part of the Battlecruiser Squadron under Admiral Beatty during the Battle of Heligoland Bight on the 28th August 1914. Beatty's ships had originally been intended as support for the British cruisers and destroyers closer to the German coast in the event of the High Seas Fleet launching a sortie in response to the British attacks. The German light cruisers SMS Strassburg and Coln were pursuing the British cruiser Arethusa when Beatty led his battlecruisers into the fray. SMS Strassburg managed to escape under the cover of mist but the Con was quickly shot at and crippled. Beatty should have sunk her but he became distracted when he saw another German cruiser, SMS Ariadne, directly ahead of him. He pursued and sunk her with three salvoes from two of his battlecruisers killing 200 of her crew of 257. Beatty then ordered his force to retire when they encountered the crippled Coln which was sunk by HMS Lion.

Stokers HMS Queen Mary

The Gemran raid on Scarborough and the pursuit by the battlecruisers was Queen Mary's next opportunity for action although the Germans managed to evade the bulk of British forces and return safely home. HMS Queen Mary was refitting in January and February 1915 and therefore did not participate in the Battle of Dogger Bank. She was back with the Grand Fleet and was present on the 31st May 1916 when they sailed out to meet the German High Seas Fleet in what came to be known as the Battle of Jutland.

The German High Seas Fleet commanded by Admiral Hipper made a sortie into the North Sea on 31st May 1916 and the British Grand Fleet was hastily dispatched to meet it under the command of Admiral Jellicoe with Beatty in command f his Battlecruiser Squadron. Beatty and his battlecruisers first spotted the German's to their east at 15:30 After changing course to intercept the German fleet cut off their line of retreat Beatty and the German Admiral, Hipper, both headed south in what came to be known as "The Run to the South" as two lines of battleships and battlecruisers exchanged fire at a distance of 18,000 yards. The German fire was more accurate from the start and British ships took their time getting into the correct formation. With the range narrowing as the two line converged HMS Queen Mary scored two hits on the SMS Seydlitz at around 15:55.

Beatty ordered a slight change in course which exposed HMS Lion to the full fire of the leading German battlecruisers and she was hit several times by SMS Derfflinger. The smoke a fumes Lion gave off caused the Germans to loose sight of Lion so they turned their guns on Queen Mary instead. As the duel progressed Queen Mary hit Seydlitz again and Seydlitz in turn hit Queen Mary twice until 16:26 when Derfflinger hit her twice more. One shell hit forward and detonated one or both of her forward magazines which broke the ship in two near her forward mast. There was another explosion caused by cordite igniting which caused the rear half of the ship to capsize. HMS Tiger, who was positioned behind Queen Mary was showered in debris from the explosion and was forced to alter course to avoid the wreckage.

1266 crewmen were lost and only 18 survivors were picked out of the water. Peter Liddle was amongst the dead.

HMS Queen Mary explodes - HMS Lion to left of picture