BORN: 1885, Redwick, Monmouthshire, Wales.
UNIT: Mercantile Marine (later called Merchant Navy).
DIED: 29 Apr 1917, aged 31. Drowned after an attack by an enemy submarine.
BURIED: Commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial, London.
LOCAL CONNECTIONS: Bryn Farm, Redwick. Great House Farm, Redwick. Summerleaze Farm, Redwick. Grey House, Undy. Black Rock. Falcon Close, Caldicot.
Early life - a Redwick lad
Horace James Leonard COX was born in 1885 in Redwick, Monmouthshire, Wales. He was the eldest son of James Leonard COX and his wife Ada Eliza (nee BAKER). They were farmers at The Bryn, Redwick. Horace was baptised at Redwick parish church on 15 Oct 1885.
Horace’s parents married in the same parish church at Redwick on 28 Jun 1883. Both his mother and father came from farming families. James was born in Thornbury, Gloucestershire, England, the son of Thomas William COX. Horace’s mother Ada was the daughter of Samuel and Eliza BAKER of Great House farm, Redwick.
Horace grew up at The Bryn as a farmer’s son, and by 1901 he had 5 younger siblings. Horace’s father, James, died at The Bryn on 06 Nov 1904, when Horace was 14 years old. His mother, Ada, remarried in 1907 to William Samuel GALE.
The family continued to live and farm at The Bryn. The 1911 census recorded William and Ada with five of her children, along with her widowed mother Eliza BAKER. However, Horace was not with them.
So where was he?
Horace and the Gold Coast
It seems that Horace had found work in the Gold Coast, British West Africa (now Ghana). He is listed as a passenger on several ships to and from Africa between 1911 and 1915. The earliest record found shows him sailing from Liverpool to Sekondi in December 1911 aboard the SS Falaba. He worked as an Engineer, as did many of his fellow passengers. Horace travelled the same route again in 1913 aboard the SS Abosso. By 1915 records show that he had emigrated to British West Africa. He travelled to Sekondi once more on 09 Jun 1915 aboard the SS Elmina and returned to the UK in the same year on the SS Mendi, arriving in Liverpool on 26 Aug 1915. He gave his occupation as a Miner.
Horace and WW1
It is possible that Horace returned from Africa in 1915 to serve his country. He joined the Merchant Navy and at some point became the 3rd Engineer aboard the SS Daleby. (No ship’s log or crew contracts have been found to determine where or when he joined the Daleby. However, we do know that she sailed into Newport and Cardiff).
SS Daleby - An unlucky ship?
The SS Daleby was a cargo steamer built in 1900 in Stockton-on-Tees for Sir. R. Ropner & Co. She was 3628 gross tons and could travel at 9.5 knots.
The Daleby had suffered a series of misfortunes before Horace joined her.
- She lost a crew member in 1902. Fireman William HARPER, from Newport had joined the Daleby at Newport. He was unwell on the trip back from Buenos Ayres and disappeared from his berth. No trace of him was found.
- Then the Daleby collided with the Spanish schooner Dos Hermanos on April Fools’ Day 1906. The Spanish ship sunk but the Daleby was undamaged.
- The Daleby also collided with the quay wall at the entrance to the new Queen Alexandra Dock in Newport on 27 Feb 1908. She did considerable damage to her hull and the dock structures.
- She was damaged in heavy seas on 15 January 1909.
- Then she grounded when travelling up the River Huelva, Spain, on 07 November 1910. The ship was not damaged and continued at the next high tide.
- And again, she sustained damage when she was hit by 50-foot waves on Christmas Day 1912 on her trip from Marseilles, France to Boston, USA. Her steering gear broke and the monster waves hit her whilst the crew were attempting to repair the disabled ship. Chief Petty Officer Blance was injured during the storm.
So the Daleby does not appear to have been a lucky ship!
Horace's death & commemoration
The sinking of SS Daleby
The sinking of the Daleby was reported in the press. We are also fortunate that a German submarine office under the pseudonym Ajax The German Pirate later published detailed accounts of actions during WW1. He claims that details are based on Admiralty records and the sworn testimony of survivors. Here are the last moments of the Daleby.
In April 1917 the Daleby left Huelva, Spain bound for Garston, Liverpool with a cargo of copper and silver ore. She was defensively armed and captained by 50-year-old Charles HORD, from West Hartlepool. Horace was one of Daleby’s 26 crew members that included Welshmen, Englishmen, Scots, Danes, Swedes, Spaniards and Greeks.
By 3 p.m. on 29 April 1917 she had reached a position about 150 miles south-east of Cape Clear, Ireland [see note]. Without warning, she was struck by two torpedoes from the German submarine U70. The second hit was catastrophic, sinking the Daleby and destroying the lifeboats.
Amazingly, 2 men survived. At the last moment, Gunner Wilson dived from the sinking ship. The U-boat surfaced nearby but did not pick him up. Wilson spotted one of the ship’s dinghies and swam towards it, but the wind kept blowing it out of his grasp. After swimming for nearly 2 hours he eventually reached the boat. He climbed in, bailed it out, and paddled back to the wreckage. There he found Fireman Davies, unconscious and with a headwound, but still alive. Wilson managed to revive Davies and the 2 men set about paddling the small craft. After 24 hours the 2 survivors were rescued by a British ship and taken to safety.
The names of the other men who perished with Horace can be found on Brian Watson’s website or the Redwick History Group website.
U70 - The submarine that sank SS Daleby
The German submarine, U70, that sunk the Daleby was a prolific hunter. She sank 54 ships and damaged 5 more in her 12 patrols of WW1. U70 was captained by Otto WUNSCHE. He was highly decorated for repeated gallantry. His awards included the Iron Cross (twice, both 2nd and 1st class) and the ‘Blue Max’, Prussia’s highest award.
Horace's commemoration on Tower Hill Memorial
Horace is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial, London along with 36,084 others from WW1 and WW2. (M.R. 39 Part II)
Medals and Pension
There is no record of the Mercantile Marine Medal being awarded to Horace. The Mercantile Marine Medal was awarded to those who served at sea for at least six months, and on at least one voyage through a danger zone. It may be that he was missing from the records or perhaps he had not been at sea for 6 months.
The British War Medal was automatically awarded to all recipients of the Mercantile Marine Medal. Again, there is no record Horace receiving this medal.
No details of any financial award were found for Horace’s loss. However, a newspaper article reported that compensation was paid to the family of a shipmate. Rose Westlake, the mother of 17-year-old mess steward Richard, received £300 for his death on the Daleby. (However, rather confusingly, the article says he was accidentally killed and has no mention of the ship being sunk).
What happened to his family?
Horace’s step-father, William GALE, died in 1928. His mother Ada moved from The Bryn to 2 Railway Cottages, Portskewett by 1939. She died in 1957 aged 95.
Horace had 5 siblings. Some of their descendants still live in the towns and villages around Redwick.
John Wyndham ‘Jack’ COX was born in 1887 in Redwick. He emigrated to Australia. In 1931 he lived in Newmarket, Queensland. He named his house ‘Bryn’ after the family farm.
Anna Maria COX was born in 1891 in Redwick. She married Noel Francis WILLIAMS of Monkswood, Monmouthshire in Redwick on 10 Feb 1917. In 1939, he is widowed and living at Burnt House, Monkswood with their children.
Clifford Baker COX was born in 1895. He married Mary Magdalene SHEA and settled in Black Rock, Sudbrook, Monmouthshire. He died in 1945.
Kathleen COX born in 1898, married Hubert Mostyn LAWRENCE in Redwick on 11 Aug 1919. The lived at Summerleaze Farm, Redwick where they raised their children.40 Kathleen died in 1959/60.
Keith Leonard COX was born in 1900. He married Ruby E. PAYNE in 1925. They lived in Grey House, Undy. Keith worked as a dairy farmer. He died in 1978 when he lived at 3 Falcon Close, Caldicot, Monmouthshire.
Links
You can read more from The German Pirate: His methods and record by Ajax here.
The SS Daleby’s details on Wrecksite.
Horace’s profile on the Redwick History Group site
Notes
Other sources have her position as 180 NW Fastnet.
