Royal Navy – HMS Vivid
Walter John Wellington was born in Gloucester on 26 January 1893: he was the son of William and Nellie Wellington, of 2 St James Street, Gloucester.
He left his job as an errand boy to join the Royal Navy as a Boy Second Class on 30 January 1909. He steadily worked his way up through the ranks and was appointed an Able Seaman on 31 December 1912.
At the outbreak of the Great War he was serving aboard the old cruiser HMS Cumberland. As part of her ship’s company he was present when the cruiser captured nine enemy boats in the Cameroons and was one of a party of five despatch bearers sent ashore in West Africa, of whom only two returned. He transferred to HMS Warspite, one of the new Queen Elizabeth Class, oil-fired battleships (which mounted eight 15 inch guns), on 1 April 1915. He remained on Warspite until 28 November 1917 and took part in the Battle of Jutland, in May 1916, when the ship was heavily engaged.
On 11 December 1917 he was posted to HMS Defiance, the Royal Navy’s Torpedo School at Devonport and was there until 24 January 1918. After that he was registered with HMS Vivid, which was the Navy’s accounting or ‘pay and rations’ department.
According to the Gloucester Journal of 25 May 1918 he had served in a destroyer after Warspite and was at sea when taken ill. After three days he was sent to Deal Infirmary, Kent, where he died after an 18 day stay.
Walter’s death, on 14 May 1918, aged 25, was from nephritis (inflammation of the kidneys) and bronchitis. His military funeral took place in Gloucester and his grave is marked with a CWGC headstone.
He was unmarried but the above newspaper reports the presence at the funeral of his fiancée, Ether (from London).
His Service Record is in the National Archives (ADM 188/653).
Researched by Graham Adams 24 March 2014 (revised)