Ashtead War Memorials - WWI
Telegraphist Harry Burfitt, Royal Navy
HMS Tipperary
The destroyer HMS Tipperary was part of the 4th Flotilla, commanded by the Flotilla Leader Captain (D) Charles J Wintour in the Tipperary, which sailed with the Battle Fleet from the Scapa Flow area at 21.30 on 30 May, 1916. About 3am on the 31st whilst leading a flotilla of 11 destroyers she was attacked by three German ships. In less than a minute she was hit and on fire. Only 15 men who were on a raft singing “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary” were rescued in the aftermath of the action, the Battle of Jutland.
http://www.ewhurstfallen.co.uk/Men-research/francis/francis.htm gives a very full account of the Tipperary and her loss. Charles Robert Francis served as an Able Seaman on HMS Tipperary and is commemorated on the Ewhurst and Ellen's Green, Surrey War Memorial.
An extract describes the ferocity of the action:
The German dreadnought SMS Westfalen of the the German 1st Battle Squadron, 1st Division immediately opened fire on Tipperary with her secondary 5.9inch (15cm) armament. Tipperary was raked with 92 rounds of 5.9inch and 45 rounds of 3.5 inch shells, which reduced her to a blazing wreck within minutes, carrying away her bridge and all on it. [A] German observer wrote that:
"The Tipperary put up a courageous fight, but the oil fuel caught fire and soon enveloped the ship in a fiery halo; charge after charge exploded in the ready ammunition racks near the guns, and shell after shell struck the ship forward, but the crew of the after gun continued to fire until the last man was killed."
http://www.naval-history.net/WW1Battle1605Jutland1.htm records:
[1st June 1916] The waters from the latitude of the Horn Reef to the scene of the action were thoroughly searched, and some survivors from the destroyers 'Ardent' (Lieutenant-Commander Arthur Marsden), 'Fortune' (Lieutenant Commander Frank G. Terry), and 'Tipperary' (Captain (D) Charles J. Wintour), were picked up, and the 'Sparrowhawk' (Lieutenant-Commander Sydney Hopkins), which had been in collision and was no longer seaworthy, was sunk after her crew had been taken off. A large amount of wreckage was seen, but no enemy ships, and at 1.15 p.m., it being evident that the German Fleet had succeeded in returning to port, course was shaped for our bases, which were reached without further incident on Friday, 2nd June.
According to Wikipedia:
The 4th Flotilla sank the German light cruiser SMS Frauenlob, but Tipperary and many of the other British destroyers were sunk or badly damaged. These engagements took place at such close range that some of Tipperary's squadron were able to hit the German dreadnoughts with their small 4-inch guns, causing casualties that included command officers on the bridges. The German ships had turned away to avoid the torpedoes, and in the confusion Elbing was rammed by the battleship SMS Posen. Tipperary was set on fire in the engagement and sank around 02.00 the following morning. Elbing had to be abandoned and similarly sank around 03.40.
HMS Tipperary was sunk on 1 June 1916 by 5.9 inch (150 mm) fire from the secondary battery of the German dreadnought SMS Westfalen with the loss of 185 hands from her crew of 197. The wrecksite is designated as a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.
Harry Burfitt’s body was not recovered. Official WW1 Naval Casualties list his official number as J.33560. (PO), his rank as Ord. Tel. and confirm that he was killed or died as a direct result of enemy action. He is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.
His Family
Listed by the CWGC as H Burfitt, son of Eliza Jane Boxall (formerly Burfitt) of 3 Whittaker Cottages, Ashtead, his name was Harry. He was born on July 14, 1899 in Shaftesbury and his birth (as Harry) registered there in the September quarter of 1898. His mother, Eliza Jane Burfitt married Thomas Boxall in Ashtead on December 8, 1900. Their marriage entry gives William Burfitt as the father of Eliza Jane (who was born in Bourton, Dorset).
In 1901 Thomas and Eliza Jane Boxall lived on Ashtead Common with Thomas’s aunt Mary Boxall, while 2-year old Harry was with his grandmother (Eliza A Burfitt) in Bourton, Dorset. In the 1911 Census 12-year old Harry was with Thomas and Eliza Jane Boxall (and their four Boxall children) at 3 Whittaker Cottages, Woodfield. One of the pair of Whittaker Cottages has been preserved at Singleton Park in Sussex. The story of the cottages and their occupants can be read in the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum magazine, Autumn 2010 issue
Members of the Boxall family lived in Woodfield into the 1930s.
text: Ann Williams & Frank Haslam. If you can add to this page
please contact the editor.
page created 27 Feb 2014: updated 26 Nov 17
+-