Photo: B. Chandler
Telegraphist. RN.J/40179
H.M.S. “Lucia”
22nd November 1918 Age 19
One of the bravest
One of the best
God grant him eternal rest
Mum
He was the son of Charles William, a milk carrier and Emily Back of 104 Block C, Guinness Building, Chelsea.
Prior to enlisting he worked as a newsboy.
He joined his first ship “Ganges” as a Boy Class II on 23 April 1915, serving until his transfer on 14 July 1915.
He was actually on board H.M. Submarine G11 when he died.
The following report detailed the incident:
On 22 November 1918, whilst under the temporary command of Lieutenant Commander George Fagan Bradshaw D.S.O., G11 was returning to her base at Blyth, Northumberland from Dogger Bank patrol, following the Armistice.
Sailing through dense fog, she overshot Blyth and ran aground on rocks below cliffs near Howick, some 30 miles north.
The boat’s log had been disabled earlier and Bradshaw, unfamiliar with the larger G class boats, underestimated the speed in the inclement weather, with the result that the boat had travelled substantially further than he had reckoned.
The impact tore the keel off and the boat was abandoned; two of her crew, George Philip Back and Pliny Foster were both drowned. Back’s body was recovered, but Foster’s was never found.
The regular captain Lieutenant Richard Douglas Sandford V.C. (of Zeebrugge Raid fame) had not sailed on her last mission due to typhoid fever. He died at Eston hospital the day after learning his ship had been lost. Remains of G11 can still be seen at low tide.
The story is told in Howick's First World War Stories; Avril and Arthur Meakin, The Howick Heritage Group 2015, page 41.
George Philip Back is remembered in Chelsea on the Draycott Avenue memorial.
