Remembered: St Botolph -without- Bishopsgate,London CORNWELL, JOHN TRAVERS Rank: Boy 1st Class Service No: J/42563 Date of Death: 02/06/1916 Age: 16 Regiment/Service: Royal Navy H.M.S. "Chester." Awards: V C, Mentioned in Despatches Grave Reference 55. 13. Cemetery MANOR PARK CEMETERY Additional Information: Son of the late Eli Cornwell, of 10, Alverstone Rd., Manor Park, Essex, and the late Lily Cornwell(nee King), of 745, Commercial Rd., Stepney, London. Born Leyton,West Ham.His father,Private E.Cornwell and half brother Private A.F.Cornwell also died. Citation An extract from "The London Gazette," dated 15th Sept., 1916, records the following:-"Mortally wounded early in the action, Boy, First Class, John Travers Cornwell remained standing alone at a most exposed post, quietly awaiting orders, until the end of the action, with the gun's crew dead and wounded all round him. His age was under sixteen and a half years.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=cornwell&GSbyrel=all&GSdy=1916&GSdyrel=in&GSob=n&GSsr=41&GRid=20027&df=all&
A 'National Memorial' to John Cornwell, in the form of a number of houses for the accommodation of former RN sailors, was built in Hornchurch. Why it was built in Hornchurch I have no idea. Several of our RBL members have been Cornwell Cottages residents and our Legion Branch donates to the maintenance of the cottages every year. The memorial plaque attached was stolen from the gate pier a couple of years ago but has since been replaced due to donations from Hornchurch businnesses. When Cornwell died his original funeral was almost a pauper's affair and it was only after a national outcry that he was given a full military funeral. The VC is rumoured to have been awarded partly as a result of the outcry.
There is an interesting account of the Boy Cornwell story in the tv documentary 'Victoria Cross Heroes'.
Memorial to HMS Chester and Jack Cornwall VC at Chester Cathedral. It lists five other boys killed at Jutland. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Memorial_to_HMS_Chester_in_Chester_Cathedral.jpg
As the 100th anniversary of the battle and his death approaches, some more about Jutland Jack: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-36386665
For those not regular readers of Britain At War magazine there was an interesting article in a recent issue (May 2016 Issue 109) about the recommendation and awarding of the VC to Cornwell as well as the life of the family at the time and that the regularly seen photo of him, as shown here, is actually his brother Ernest.
