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George Frederick Minter

Male 1895 - 1917  (22 years)


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  • Name George Frederick Minter 
    Birth 12 Aug 1895  Trimley St Martin, Suffolk Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Gender Male 
    _UID A74202EF074D4E1C8F6644672581AD54DFDA 
    Death 31 Dec 1917  WW1 Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Notes 
    • National School Admission Registers & Log-books 1870-1914 at findmypast.co.uk
      Although the father's name doesn't tally, the following probably refers to George Frederick - George born 12 Aug 1895, father Arthur of Parliament Road, started at St John's Voluntary Controlled Primary School, Ipswich on 1 May 1899.

      Drowned, World War 1. Commonwealth War Graves Commission has date of death as 30 Dec 1917. George was a Private, no. 8511, in the Norfolk Regiment 3rd Bn. Remembered at the Chatby Memorial.

      The following is from a website which records entries on the War Memorial in Rushmere St Andrew, Suffolk:
      Private 8511, 3rd Battalion, Norfolk Regiment. Died 30/12/1917. Born Trimley. Commemorated on the Chatby Memorial, Egypt.

      Private Minter was on board the troop ship "Aragon", when, as she was arriving at the port of Alexandria, she was hit by a torpedo fired by the German submarine UC34. As the destroyer "HMS Attack" was rescuing the personnel on board, "Aragon" was hit by a second torpedo, and "HMS Attack" was hit by a third. Both ships were lost with the total loss of 610 lives.

      The following account gives more detail. It was supplied by Pip Kedge who received it from Vic Stiles who is related to the Minters through the Harold/Jennings side of the family.

      was drowned during WW1. Commonwealth War Graves Commission has date of death as 30 Dec 1917. George was a Private (No 8511) in the 3«sup»rd«/sup» Bn The Norfolk Regt. Pte Minter was on board the troop ship "Aragon" when, as she was arriving at the port of Alexandria, she was hit by a torpedo from the German submarine UC34 As the destroyer "HMS Attack" was rescuing the survivors the Aragon was hit by a second torpedo and HMS Attack was hit by a third. Both ships were lost with a total loss of 610 lives. Commemorated on the Chatby Memorial in Egypt.

      Among the 2500 others aboard, was a detachment of V.A.D. nurses, one of whom wrote an account of the sinking of the Aragon by the German coastal submarine 2UC34" in her diary (quoted from The Roses of No Mans Land, Lyn Macdonald. Macmillan. P.203-1)

      Gales raged in the Mediterranean and it was days before the Aragon was able to leave her sheltered anchorage for the last short lap of the voyage to Alexandria. On the third day they sighted the coast of Egypt. The ship's engines had stopped and she lay rocking gently ten miles offshore, waiting for the ship that would escort her to Alexandria harbour while the rest of the convoy raced on towards Port Said…

      Suddenly there was a terrific crash and a lot of dust and bits of wood were blown up into the air over the aft well-deck….

      The V.A.D. nurses took to the lifeboats and transferred to a nearby trawler, from where they watched the tragic scene unfold.

      The destroyer HMS Attack had pulled up right alongside the ship and she was taking men off as fast as she could. But the Aragon was sinking fast and as she finally started to go down, the front of the ship was right up out of the water and there were men pouring down the side into the sea; it was simply a swarm of khaki all down the side and it seemed as if it would never clear before she went altogether. We felt that all our friends were drowning before our eyes.

      Just before she went down she was hit by another torpedo and then immediately afterwards the destroyer was hit. It was bad enough seeing the Aragon go, but when that happened it filled us with an even greater horror because all the survivors from the Aragon were onboard. The torpedo hit her in the oil bunkers, so all the men who were thrown into the sea were swimming in a pool of oil. The tragic thing was that those who were wet, had had time to strip off their clothes on board the Destroyer and so they were naked when thrown into the sea. When they got into the oil it sickened them with the fumes and made them unconscious, and it covered their bodies so that it was impossible to pull them out of the water. It was terrible to see where the ships had been and now where there was nothing but a little floating wreckage and hundreds of swimming figures. The submarine was obviously still around and the captain of our trawler decided that it was too dangerous to risk staying there any longer, so we started back to shore.

      Of the 2,500 on board 610 died, including six of the nurses, also amongst those who died in the sinking of the Aragon was Sergeant E G Horlock VC. He was awarded one of the early VC's of the war for his bravery in action in September 1914.
    Person ID I120  Boyton, Suffolk
    Last Modified 24 Oct 2017 

    Father Frederick Minter,   b. 19 Dec 1867, Stradbroke, Suffolk Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 4 Aug 1947, Heathfields Institution, Ipswich, Suffolk Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 79 years) 
    Mother Ellen JENNINGS,   b. 24 Mar 1870, Nacton, Suffolk Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Jun 1927, Union Workhouse, Ipswich Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 57 years) 
    Marriage 5 Mar 1892  Independent Chapel, Falkenham, Suffolk Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    Family ID F41  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 12 Aug 1895 - Trimley St Martin, Suffolk Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Documents
    George Frederick Minter 1895 - 1917
    George Frederick Minter 1895 - 1917
    Cutting from the Suffolk Chronicle Jan 17th 1919

  • Sources 
    1. [S3] BMD index (Reliability: 3).
      Q3 1895 Woodbridge 4a/32.

    2. [S3] BMD index (Reliability: 3).
      Q1 1892 Woodbridge 4a/950a.