255150 Gnr. Thomas Charles Moody British Army 29th Brigade Ammunition Column Royal Field Artillery from:Islington, Middlesex (d.23rd Oct 1915) My great-grandfather Thomas Moody was born in Islington in 1869.
He was a gunner in the Field Artillery when he married in 1897, and also on the 1901 census when he was living in Russell Street, Gosport. At some stage he left the military and became a car man, but rejoined the army at some stage on or before 1915 when he served in the Royal Field Artillery 29th Division Ammunition Column as a gunner.
He was comparatively old to be fighting: the average age at enlistment was around 24 and he was almost twice that at 46.
In October 1915 he was in Alexandria boarding the troopship Marquette, a requisitioned cruise liner. They departed 19th of October 1915 with 741 on board, 449 soldiers and also medics and nurses from the New Zealand No.1 Stationary Hospital Unit, plus 491 mules and 50 horses.They were headed for the port of Salonika (now Thessalonika) in Greece presumably to join the Gallipoli, Dardanelles campaign.
The Marquette was given protection by the French destroyer most of the way, but left the Marquette unprotected on the night of 22nd of October. At 9.15am on 23rd of October many on board saw the green flash of the torpedo through the water, fired by German submarine U-35 as it hit the starboard side of the boat. The ship immediately listed to port. The ship sank within 10 minutes.
Some were killed in the initial explosion, others when the lifeboats were ineptly lowered into the water. The remainder fell, or jumped, into the water, and grabbed what wreckage they could to keep themselves afloat. Those who survived were in the water for up to 9 hours before they were rescued. My great-grandfather was one of the unlucky ones and, despite being a strong swimmer, died.
The disaster received considerable publicity in New Zealand when the New Zealand nurses who survived wrote home, their traumatic accounts being published in the newspapers, which is why so much is known about the sinking of the ship..
The effect on my great-grandfather's family was considerable. Two of his children (including my grandmother Mary) were brought up by his wife's parents. The remaining children and his widow lived in poverty in London, often ending up in the Workhouse. Such is the effect of war on those left behind.
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