250524 Able Sea. William "Jack" Vanstone Royal Naval Reserve HMS Active from:Lewisham, London My Great Uncle Bill, William Vanstone, was put into a naval school at the age of 9 and a year later in 1914, his father died of TB. He had mainly been in the Merchant Navy but in the late 1930's he had put his name down as Royal Naval Reserve.
He worked in the engine room, as a stoker. During WWII, he lost all his friends and comrades that he grew up with and showed bravery when one of the ships he was on was torpedoed and he dived into the freezing sea to save his friends but it was too late. Also, and I don't know which ship it was on, he dived in to save his captain, only to find there was only half of him there. I do know that he was at one time on HMS Active and on the Russian Convoys. I am very proud to have had him as my uncle.
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