William John Murray - lost at sea or absconded c 1927?

[cappy]

Without any leads it is surely a gargantuan task to find a seaman who goes adrift ....
a seaman i knew told me a sad tale of 3 seamen skinning out a bad condition wind bag in the west coast of south america in the early 1900s .....they had not been paid and no food......they were two english and a fine young german sailor .....they got what items they could sell and bought foood and foolishley set of to walk to the east coast .....over mountain through forest and jungle ....as they progressed they found villagers in small communities stoned them and set the dogs on them.....they froze and sometimes burnt ...they ate things to survive that made them ill .....times without water and wild animals about .....at one stage they ate grass and leaves ...emaciated and with hope going the young german died ......the two brits dug a hole of kinds with there knives and buried there young comrade .after weeks and weeks of walking and using there star knowledge they reached the east coast .....they only knew the german by his ist name .....as most seaman know you are taff or jock or geordie....they reported the death and no one seemed interested .......now the bit that i could not find easy to live with was .......somewhere in germany a mother would wait for her son ......and never ever no what happened to him for the rest of her life she would wait...that really cuts me up after many years.......R683532.....CAPPY.....PS THAT INFO WAS GIVEN TO ME BY A LEEDS SEAMAN WHO FELL FROM A BOSUNS CHAIR AND BROKE HIS BACK IN SOUTH AMERICA.......

[Keith Tindell]

I remember as a boy, sitting at the dining table , with all the family, including my great grandmother. This would have been in the early 50s. My great grandmother was totally deaf, and when i looked at her, there were tears streaming down her face.I asked my granny why she was crying, and granny told me that she was thinking of her son, my granny's brother, Cecil Toomer who was on HMS Good Hope, the ship was lost with all hands i believe at the battle of the Coronel, he was 23, no body ever recovered. I think the battle of the Coronel was in the first world war, and took place on the Pacific side of South America. So many losses, and for what ?.

[Doc Vernon]

Wonder if this could be info on him at all Keith T ??
Was he Royal Navy then ?
Cheers

TOOMER, Cecil W, Stoker 1c, K 10181

First name(s) Cecil W

Last name Toomer

Year 1914

Place —

Country —

Archive reference NAVY

Source Gro War Death Navy All Ranks Indices (1914 To 1921)

Toomer C.jpg

[Keith Tindell]

Many thanks for that Vernon, have never seen his record before, and is very interesting. This would have been very interesting if my Mum were still alive, as the generations increase, all this information could get buried. I only found out about him from my mothers sister, who told me the basics just before she died at 102, Keith

- - - Updated - - -

To add, i see that he served on the same ship as my grandfather on my fathers side, obviously before my mum and dad married, what a coincidence.

[Keith Tindell]

Just been studying that document, and not wishing to take up more posting , but amazed to find that joining the navy at 12 years old !!!, nowadays considered a child at 18 years. So my ancestor died at 23 years old, and had 11years service when he died. kt

[Hugh]

Just been studying that document, and not wishing to take up more posting , but amazed to find that joining the navy at 12 years old !!!, nowadays considered a child at 18 years. So my ancestor died at 23 years old, and had 11years service when he died. kt

Hi Keith,
Not quite - he was about 20 when he joined in 1911 and he was on a Continious Service engagement of 12 years but he was sadly killed in 1914.

Regards
Hugh

[Keith Tindell]

Thanks for that Hugh, interesting reading though. I see that he served on HMS Medina, which had a strange history, she was in fact a liner, but temporarily commissioned as a Royal Yacht. I can see why you are interested in research, totally fascinating. kt

[Keith Tindell]

Incredible coincidence , i recorded earlier today on Smithsonian channel, the hunt for the Scharnhorst at the battle of the Falklands in the first world war, and there is an account of the battle of the Coronel, where the British navy lost two major ships. This relates directly with my post 12, amazing. The Scarnhorst was one of the German ships that sank my great Uncles ship HMS Good Hope, she herself was lost some weeks later in the Falklands. kt