Henry George Harvey

A Leading Deck Hand with H.M. Drifter Ocean Fisher, Henry died on 16th of June 1918 at the age of 22. 

Henry was born at Lowestoft on 27 January 1896, a son of James and Charlotte Harvey. In 1891 his family lived at 52 Haward Street. By 1911 they were living at 12 Avondale Road, and Henry worked as a fisherman.

Henry enlisted in the Army at Lowestoft on 17 November 1914. He joined the Suffolk Regiment, service number 16223, and was posted to the 9th Battalion. He was discharged at Shoreham on 5 December 1914 ‘not likely to become an efficient soldier.’ It seems that he had a weak scar from an appendectomy and a hernia. 

In 1916 Henry married Laura Doddington: this was registered in the Mutford district. In 1918 Laura lived at 34 Lovewell Road, and later at 48 Cornwall Road, Kirkley. 

On 1 February 1916 Henry joined the Royal Naval Reserve and he served on the trawler Ocean Fisher. On 20 March 1918 Henry was awarded a naval prize bounty of £6-10-9 for his part in the salvage of the ketch ‘Alert’ by H.M. Trawler Mackenzie. Presumably Henry had served on the Mackenzie, but that service is not shown on his service record. 

On 16 June 1918 the Ocean Fisher was on minesweeping operations off the Haddock Bank in the North Sea. The drifter brought up a mine in the trawl. The mine exploded, sinking the vessel, with the loss of all nine crew including Henry.