St Stephens by Saltash War Memorial

MARKS, Ernest G

 
Ernest George MARKS was the son of William & Sophia Ann MARKS. He was born at St. Stephens by Saltash in 1891, his birth being registered in the September Q of that year (St. Germans registration district).

1901 census aged 9 living with parents & siblings at Cottage, Burraton, St Stephens, Saltash.

1911 census aged 21 , Single, Stoker 1st class aboard HMS Leviathan at Chatham Dockyard, Medway, Kent.

1915 Ernest George MARKS married Clara SCREECH, their marriage being registered in the December Q of that year (St. Germans registration district). The marriage took place on 16 December in the Parish Church, the same day as that of his older brother, Edward Henry (a petty officer R.N.), to Amy LEMIN. Ernest was serving on H.M.S. Tiger at that time.
 
 
WW 1 Royal Navy Record
Name: MARKS Ernest George
Rank: Leading Stoker
Service number: K/5640
Vessel: H.M.S. Pheasant.
Date Died: 1 March 1917 - Age 25
How Died: Killed in Action
Memorial: Plymouth Naval Memorial
Additional information: Husband of Clara Marks, of Trehan House, Trehan, St. Stephens, Saltash.
 
HMS Pheasant was a Royal Navy Destroyer built in 1916 by Fairfield Ship Building & Eng. Co., Ltd., Glasgow.
She was stationed at Hoy Sound, Scapa Flow. On the morning of Thursday, 1 March 1917 she left the sound at 5.30am, she was next seen by a signal station, at 6.10am. That station then heard an explosion and smoke was seen to the west. A perfunctory search discovered nothing, but later that morning mine sweeping trawlers steamed through wreckage and oil. They picked up the body of midshipman from Pheasant, it was discovered that she had been lost with all hands.
It is presumed the destroyer had struck mine, probably British, broken away from a defensive field.
 
Reference website

 

Contributed by Bill Norton.