NAVY NEWS, MAY 2009 11
Raleigh – where Cornwell’s successor
generations follow in his footsteps –
having been painstakingly restored.
Restorer Matthew Goldsmith set
to work on both the 8ft by 5ft canvas
and its frame.
When he was done, the painting
was rededicated with full honours
– fi ttingly as 50 rookie sailors of
Cornwell Division passed out of
Raleigh.
“If I was put in that position I’d
defi nitely think back to Cornwell,
how he stuck by his post and how
he was courageous and loyal to his
country,” said 18-year-old AB(Sea)
Paul Newcombe from Plymouth
– one of those sailors who had just
completed their basic training.
Cornwell is one a fi ve new-
BOY VC WINNER’S
entry divisions at the Torpoint
establishment. Sailors in all fi ve learn
HEROIC LEGACY about the 16-year-old’s actions on
May 31 1916.
Famous Portrait Restored
“I use the portrait on a weekly basis
YOUNGSTER INSPIRES
to tell Jack’s story to help recruits
TODAY’S SAILORS:
refl ect on values – courage, selfl ess
commitment and loyalty – that are
“I’d definitely think back to
as relevant today as they were in
Cornwell.”
● A contemporary newspaper cutting shows Frank Salisbury at work
Jack’s time and to remind them that
on his portrait of the young VC winner, using Cornwell’s brother
COURAGE, SELFLESS
they will be called to fi ght,” said the
Ernest as his model
COMMITMENT AND LOYALTY
Rev Scott Lamb, Raleigh’s Church of
England chaplain.
“with just his own brave heart” as commissioned to produce that
WINSTON Churchill,
“Among those killed alongside
protection, until Chester withdrew portrait… which he did with great
Jack was the chaplain, so the painting
Queen Elizabeth II, Field
from the fi ght. Finally he was carried thoroughness, as his grandson
is also a good way to remind recruits
below for treatment. Richard Salisbury Norris explained
Marshal Montgomery,
that we will be there to share their There was little Chester’s surgeons at the rededication ceremony.
Benito Mussolini, Earl
hardship.” could do for him and doctors at “My grandfather was taken on
Mountbatten of Burma,
● ● Grimsby Hospital, where Cornwell board HMS Chester by a cutter under
◆
Londoner Cornwell signed up for was taken the following day after the sail. The story goes that when the
Franklin D Roosevelt. the RN in October 1915 and after
cruiser headed up the Humber, were picture was painted – aboard the ship
All have been immortalised basic training in Devonport headed to
unable to help either. – the wind was so strong that two
on canvas by the brush of Frank Rosyth to join cruiser HMS Chester
His mother was sent for, but the sailors had to hang on to the canvas
Owen Salisbury. All are fi gures of at Easter 1916.
boy seaman died on June 2 1916 and my grandfather’s easel on the
international renown (some rather Six weeks later, the ship found
before she reached his bedside. deck as he painted,” Mr Norris said.
more infamous than others…). herself in the middle of the greatest
The young sailor was laid to rest “I’ve seen prints and copies of the
It’s hard, however, for a 16, 17, clash of warships the world had ever
in a common grave in Manor Park Jack Cornwell portrait, but this is the
18-year-old sailor to relate to such seen at Jutland. Cemetery, but when news of his fi rst time I have seen the original. It is
fi gures. Jack Cornwell was a sight setter bravery was revealed to the world, a a great privilege.”
But not to John ‘Jack’ Travers on a 5.5in gun – protected from the clamour grew to honour him. The completed portrait was
Cornwell also immortalised on enemy and the elements only by a Cornwell’s body was exhumed then originally presented to the First
canvas by Salisbury. shield. reinterred with full military honours Lord of the Admiralty, Edward
It’s one of the defi ning images in The cruiser was hit 18 times by in the same cemetery, September Carson, in 1917. It has hung in HMS
Royal Navy history: a young boy German shells. Four landed near 30 was hailed ‘Jack Cornwell Day’, Impregnable in Devonport and at
stood by his gun amid the tumult of Cornwell’s gun, killing all but two penny doggerels were penned – “Fate HMS St Vincent in Gosport, before
Jutland. of its crew and gravely wounding the set his name in honour grim / And arriving at Raleigh.
Cornwell would earn the VC, 16-year-old. even death is proud of him:” – stained As for the gun which Cornwell
posthumously. Salisbury would Cornwell did not seek help. He glass windows were commissioned, stood by so bravely – and which his
become the pre-eminent portrait remained by his gun – which could memorial funds set up, the Scouts brother posed beside for Salisbury
painter for the next 30-plus years. not be brought to bear against the named a medal in his memory, the – it can be seen at the Imperial ● Looking up to inspiration... Trainee sailors Bethany Howard and
And the painting? Well, today it enemy because of the damage – Victoria Cross was posthumously War Museum in London, which also Roderick McKenzie admire the newly-restored portrait of Cornwell
gleams in St Paul’s Church at HMS awaiting orders under heavy fi re awarded and Frank Salisbury was holds the 16-year-old’s VC. VC at HMS Raleigh Picture: Dave Sherfield, HMS Raleigh
Flag seals a six-decade bond
A WHITE Ensign which ‘fl ew’ on
the wreck of HMS Exeter will fi nd
peace in the surroundings of the
namesake city’s cathedral.
Veterans of the wartime cruiser
were invited aboard the present- Make a difference,
day destroyer for a final time – the
current ship is decommissioning –
to receive the treasured flag.
The heavy cruiser took her
place along the lions of Royal
TEACH
Navy history thanks to her crucial
role in the Battle of the River Plate
in 1939.
She survived the heavy damage
she suffered that day at the hands
of the ‘pocket battleship’ Graf
PGCE Secondary Initial Teacher Training
Spee, but was not so fortunate
two and a half years later in the
Java Sea.
places available for September 2009
Mortally wounded by Japanese
attack, the cruiser was scuttled
by her crew. Most of her ship’s
company survived the ordeal, but Business Studies, English, Mathematics*, Modern Foreign
then faced more than three years
in Japanese Prisoner of War camps,
Languages and Science*
where they suffered starvation,
● Java Sea survivors (standing) Bill Francis, Admiral J Harkness,
disease, and brutality.
Steve Cairns and Joe Asher, (seated) Johnny King, Jimmy Hegney,
More than six decades later,
Admiral Sir Peter Anson and Bill Guy pose in the shadow of the 4.5in
s%XCELLENTSUPPORTFROMHIGHLYCOMMITTEDCOURSELEADERS
their numbers are few, but eight
gun of HMS Exeter
survivors of the Java Sea battle – Bill
s4AXFREETRAININGBURSARIES
Francis, Admiral J P K Harkness,
wing of Exeter Cathedral which sailors and airmen who took part
Steve Cairns, Joe Asher, Johnny
is dedicated to the ship and her in Operation Overlord are now in
King, Jimmy Hegney, Admiral Sir
men. their early 80s.
s'OLDENHELLOPAYMENTSINSOMESUBJECTSATTHEENDOF
Peter Anson and Bill Guy – made
As for the current Exeter, Sword Beach, near the village
YOURFIRSTYEAROFTEACHING
the pilgrimage to Portsmouth,
she formally leaves the ranks of Lion-sur-Mer, has come to
where they were hosted both by
of the RN on May 27 with a be regarded as the focal point
Exeter and her slightly younger
decommissioning ceremony in of the British effort on Tuesday 7EWELCOMEAPPLICANTSFROMALLETHNICBACKGROUNDSAND
sister HMS Nottingham.
Portsmouth Naval Base. June 6 1944. It will be the focal
The latter treated the
Anyone connected with the point of commemorations on
ARECOMMITTEDTOEQUALITYOFOPPORTUNITY
eight veterans to lunch in the
Falklands veteran who wishes to Saturday June 6 2009 when
wardroom as well as the obligatory
attend the event should contact several thousands of those flags
photographs for the albums.
the decommissioning officer on – inscribed with messages of
The wreck of the heavy cruiser
346-vip1@a.dii.mod.uk or call dedication and gratitude – will be For further information, please contact:
was located by divers after a
02392 722466. planted in the sand.
protracted search of the Java Sea.
■ YOU may – or may not – have The flag mail-out is part of a
t: 023 9284 5204
She lies around 200ft below far
been one of 5½ million Britons £2.5m campaign by the RBL to
from the site her CO, Capt Oliver
who received a a fl ag in the post support veterans.
e:SECSENQUIRIES PORTACUK
Gordon, reported more than six
from the Royal British Legion. It is also organising a service of
decades ago, and close to the last
The unusual delivery is part of thanksgiving in the magnificent
w:WWWPORTACUK
resting place of her escort, HMS
the veterans’ organisation’s efforts cathedral at Bayeux.
Encounter. to commemorate the sacrifices And, hand-in-hand with the
The divers initially attached an made in Normandy 65 summers Normandy Veterans Association,
ensign to the port torpedo tube as ago. the Legion is arranging a picnic

"OOSTERCOURSESA VAILABLEFOR
mark of respect. Next month marks the 65th from mid-day and pop concert on
-ATHEMATICS#HEMISTRY0HYSICS
It has since been recovered and anniversary of D-Day and the Southsea seafront (where entry to
was presented to Exeter veteran subsequent campaign to drive the the D-Day Museum will be free
Stoker 1st Class Bill Francis, on Germans out of France. on June 6), plus similar picnics
behalf of his shipmates on the It could be the last major in Weymouth, Coventry and
eve of their annual reunion. The gathering of the men of 1944 – the Christchurch, as well as on the
ensign will go on display in a youngest of the 165,000 soldiers, shores of Normandy.
011_NN_May copy.indd 1 17/4/09 10:16:27
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