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Frank Reginald POLLARD

Main CPGW Record

Surname: POLLARD

Forename(s): Frank Reginald

Place of Birth: Skipton, Yorkshire

Service No: J/42118

Rank: Boy 1st Class

Regiment / Corps / Service: Royal Navy

Battalion / Unit: H.M.S. 'Vanguard'

Division: ---

Age: 17

Date of Death: 1917-07-09

Awards: ---

CWGC Grave / Memorial Reference: 25.

CWGC Cemetery: ---

CWGC Memorial: PORTSMOUTH NAVAL MEMORIAL

Non-CWGC Burial: ---

Local War Memorial: SKIPTON, YORKSHIRE

Additional Information:

Frank Reginald Pollard (born 22 October 1899) was the son of Frank and Ruth Marsh Pollard, née Crabtree. Frank, senior, was born at Leicester, Leicestershire and Ruth at Colsterworth, Lincolnshire.

1901 Skipton, Yorkshire Census: 8, Nelson Street - Frank R. Pollard, aged 1 year, born Skipton, son of Frank and Ruth Pollard.

1911 Skipton, Yorkshire Census: 7, Duke Street - Frank Reginald Pollard, aged 11 years, born Skipton, son of Frank and Ruth Pollard.

UK, WW1 Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923: card(s) exist for Frank.

Frank died on the same ship as O/Seaman Wilfred Clarkson (J/50306) (q.v.).

Data Source: Craven’s Part in the Great War - original CPGW book entry

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Entry in West Yorkshire Pioneer Illustrated War Record:

POLLARD, Frank Reginald, (Boy 1st Class), aged 17, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Pollard, 7, Duke Street, Skipton, drowned in the sinking of the ‘Vanguard’ 1917.

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Boy 1st Class Frank Reginald POLLARD

Boy 1st Class Frank Reginald POLLARD

Regiment / Corps / Service Badge: Royal Navy

Regiment / Corps / Service Badge: Royal Navy

Data from Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914 - 1919 Records

Soldiers Died Data for Soldier Records

Surname:

Forename(s):

Born:

Residence:

Enlisted:

Number:

Rank:

Regiment:

Battalion:

Decorations:

Died Date:

Died How:

Theatre of War:

Notes:

Data from Commonwealth War Graves Commission Records

CWGC Data for Soldier Records

Surname: POLLARD

Forename(s): Frank Reginald

Country of Service: United Kingdom

Service Number: J/42118

Rank: Boy 1st Class

Regiment: Royal Navy

Unit: H.M.S. "Vanguard"

Age: 17

Awards:

Died Date: 09/07/1917

Additional Information: Son of Frank and Ruth Pollard, of 5, Duke St., Skipton.

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20 July 1917

POLLARD – July 9th 1917, by the sinking of H.M.S. Vanguard, Boy (1st Class) Frank Reginald Pollard, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Pollard, Skipton, aged 17 years.

20 July 1917

NAVAL DISASTER – SKIPTON AND SILSDEN LADS LOST ON THE VANGUARD

Amongst the sailors accidentally killed in the explosion on the battleship H.M.S. Vanguard were two local lads – Boy, lst Class, Frank Reginald Pollard, of Skipton, and Signaller Wilfred Clarkson of Silsden. The Admiralty report states that the ship blew up whilst at anchor on the night of the 9th inst. (Monday) as the result of an internal explosion. The ship sank immediately, and there were only three survivors among those who were on board the ship at the time of the disaster, viz., one officer and two men, and the officer has since died. There were, however, 24 officers and 71 men not on board the ship at the time, thus bringing the total number of survivors up to 97.

The destruction of the Vanguard registers the first loss of a British battleship of the Dreadnought type which has so far been announced. She no longer belonged to the first line of the Fleet, but her loss is the severest we have suffered since the Battle of Jutland, 13 months ago, and its poignancy is increased by the loss of so many officers and men. Her complement was 724 according to the Naval Annual, and 870 according to ‘Fighting Ships’, but her full war-time crew probably exceeded the higher of those figures.

The Vanguard was provided for under the 1907 programme and built by Messrs. Vickers at Barrow, where she was launched in February 1909, and commissioned in March 1910, for service in the Home Fleet. Her displacement was 19,250 tons, nearly 8,000 less than that of the Queen Mary, lost at Jutland, and she carried an armament of ten 12 in. and eighteen 4 in. guns with three torpedo tubes and a 93 in. armour belt. Her trial speed was over 22 knots and her total cost £1,464,000.

BOY 1st Class F.R. POLLARD, SKIPTON

Mr. and Mrs. Frank Pollard, Skipton, received an intimation from the Admiralty on Friday last that their only son, Boy, 1st Class, Frank Reginald Pollard, had lost his life through the explosion on the Vanguard. Deceased, who had been in the Navy exactly two years on the day of the disaster, was only 17 years of age, and after leaving school worked for a short time as office boy for Mr. W.A. Judge, accountant, Skipton. He received his training at Shotley Training School, and took part in the Jutland Battle, volunteering to do so, but came out of the fighting without a scratch, although he had some very narrow escapes. He was formerly a member of the Brougham Street School Prize Choir and a chorister at the Skipton Parish Church; and trained by Miss Dillingham, he afterwards won a choral scholarship and went to Lichfield Cathedral, where he was in the choir for three and a half years.

Mr. Chas. R. Bailey, schoolmaster at the Choristers’ House, Lichfield, has written a touching letter to the bereaved parents from which we print the following extracts:–“It was a great shock and grief to us to receive the sad news of the death of your dear boy, and I cannot tell you how much we feel for you in your sorrow. We know how greatly you must feel your loss, for he was always a good and true-hearted boy, with a happy and affectionate disposition and always so willing and anxious to please. We will remember his good-humoured smile when his turn came to be ‘chaffed.’ Like the rest of his comrades he had the honour and glory of laying down his life for others–for his country; and so faithfully doing his duty to the end. And that is as he wished–though doubtless they all would greatly have preferred to meet their death in actual combat.”

SIGNALLER W. CLARKSON, SILSDEN

Official information was also received from the Admiralty on Friday afternoon last that Signaller Wilfred Clarkson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Clarkson, 26, North Street, Silsden, and grandson of Mrs. Newman, Castle Street, Skipton, had lost his life on the Vanguard.

Signaller Clarkson is the first Silsden man to lose his life in the naval forces. Although only 18 years of age at the time of his death, he enlisted shortly after the outbreak of war and served nine months in the Duke of Wellington’s West Riding Regiment, being finally discharged on account of his youth.

Possessed of determination to assist his country he enlisted in the Navy, serving his period of training at the Shotley Training School. In his last letter home, which was dated July 9th, he said he had had the pleasure of seeing His Majesty the King during the latter’s inspection of the Fleet. He also said that Jim Walton (another Silsden sailor) and he had had tea together very recently. Prior to enlisting he was a regular attender at the Silsden Primitive Methodist Sunday School and Church, and his loss will be keenly felt. He was formerly employed by the firm of J. Walton, Airedale Shed, Silsden.

26 October 1917

IN MEMORIAM – BROUGHAM STREET SCHOOL HEROES

At the Congregational Church, Skipton, on Tuesday evening, an impressive musical service was held in memory of the teachers and old scholars of the Brougham Street Council School who have fallen in the first three years of the war. Particulars of the deaths of these brave lads have appeared in our columns from time to time, and their names are as follows:– Willie Barraclough, C.D. Bennett (teacher), Arthur Bruce, Sam Cairns, Cyril Calvert, Ennie Clarke, Tom Clarke, Harry Ingham, Tom Langman, Reggie Pollard, Lewis Sedgwick, Joe Stewart, Harry Tindall (teacher), and J.W. Varley.

There was a large and sympathetic congregation, including relatives of those in whose honour the service was held. Conducted jointly by the Rev. L.H. Gaunt and Mr. A. Townsend (headmaster of the school), the service, in addition to special prayers, hymns, collects, &c., comprised anthems by the Brougham Street School Old Scholars’ Choir (under the direction of Mr. Townsend), solos by Miss D. Wear and Mr. Clifford Townsend, and an address by Mr. Gaunt.

In a few introductory remarks Mr. Townsend explained the object of the service, which he said was one of praise rather than of sorrow for the splendour of the lives that had been laid down. – The anthems were ‘O God, protect with Thy strong hand’ (Greig), ‘Rest for the Weary’ (Gounod), ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’ (Smart), and ‘Peace to the Souls of the Heroes’ (Callcott), and in all these and in Nicholson’s setting of the ‘Magnificat’ the girls’ voices blended with pleasing effect, the singing being marked by a very fine tone and clear enunciation, showing evidence of careful training. Miss D. Wear sang most acceptably the exacting solo ‘I know that my Redeemer’ (Handel) and Mr. Clifford Townsend gave a meritorious interpretation of ‘The trumpet shall sound’ (Handel). In addition to playing the organ accompaniments with the customary taste and efficiency, Mr. W.H. Green contributed as a solo the ‘Hallelujah Chorus.’

In his address the Rev. L.H. Gaunt expressed his pleasure that the Congregational Church should have been used for a service of that kind and said he would rejoice if it could be used more frequently for public gatherings in which not only comparatively small circle of their own congregation might join, but in which the whole town might feel that it had some part. He also expressed his agreement with what Mr. Townsend had said as to the view they ought to take of the death of their boys, and said he felt that the Bishop of London – despite the fact that he had been taken to task for his expression of opinion – was right when he said that they ought not to think of the death of their boys as sheer calamity and overwhelming sorrow. They ought to think of them as having made a sacrifice bravely and heroically at the call of their country and for humanity, and those who were left behind to cherish their memory would honour them best by thinking of that sacrifice as a victory and not as a disaster; and their remembrance of them should come as a call to follow their example, to live so that they would be worthy of the sacrifice of their loved ones, and to bring to their lives into harmony with the great high note that they had struck in their sacrifice. They thanked God for what their boys had done and suffered, and most of all for what they had been and were now, and to ask His grace to follow in their train.

A collection was taken on behalf of the proposed new memorial of the Brougham Street School, which will probably take the form of a scholarship fund.

12 July 1918

POLLARD – In memory of Frank Reginald Pollard (boy, 1st Class), R.N., aged 17 years, who went down with his ship H.M.S. Vanguard, July 9th, 1917.

Father, Mother, and Sister, 7 Duke Street.

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20 July 1917

POLLARD – Lost his life by the sinking of the ‘Vanguard,’ Boy First Class Frank Reginald Pollard, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Pollard, of 7, Duke Street, Skipton, aged 17.

20 July 1917

THE SINKING OF THE ‘VANGUARD’

Skipton and Silsden Sailors Lose Their Lives

Official information has been received from the Admiralty that Boy First Class Frank Reginald Pollard, only son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Pollard, of 7, Duke Street, Skipton, has lost his life by the sinking of the ‘Vanguard’ on July 9th. The deceased was only 17 years of age, and had been in the Navy exactly two years to the very day he lost his life. He took part in the Battle of Jutland, and although he came through without injury had many narrow escapes. He received his training at the Shotley Training School. He was formerly employed as office boy by Mr. W.A. Judge, accountant, Skipton. He was also a member of the Parish Church Choir, and the Brougham Street Council School Prize Choir. Under the tuition of Miss Lillian Dillingham, of Skipton, he obtained a choral scholarship which entitled him to go to Lichfield Cathedral, where, for some time he was boy soloist.

Mr. Charles R. Bailey schoolmaster at the Choristers House, Lichfield, in a letter to Mr. and Mrs. Pollard, states:– “It was a great shock and grief to us to receive the sad news of the, death of your dear boy; and I cannot tell you how much we feel for you in your sorrow. We know how greatly you must feel your loss, for he was always a good and true-hearted boy, with a happy and affectionate disposition, and always so willing and anxious to please. We well remember his good humoured smile when his turn came to be chaffed. Like the rest of his comrades he had has the honour and glory of laying down his life for others – for his country and so faithfully doing his duty to the end, and that is as he had wished – though doubtless they all would greatly have preferred their death in actual conflict.”

26 October 1917

SKIPTON

IN MEMORIAM SERVICE FOR THE FALLEN

An in memoriam musical service was held at the Congregational Church, Skipton, on Tuesday evening last in memory of the teachers and old scholars of the Brougham Street Council School, who have made the supreme sacrifice in the first three years of the war. Their names are as follows:– Willie Barraclough, C. D. Bennett (teacher), Arthur Bruce, Sam Cairns, Cyril Calvert, Ennie Clarke, Tom Clarke, Harry Ingham, Tom Langman, Reggie Pollard, Lewis Sedgwick, Joe Stewart, Harry Tindall (teacher), and J.W. Varley. Mr. A. Townsend, in explaining the objects of the service, said he hoped it would not be of a sorrowful character, but that they were gathered together to honour all the men that had laid down their lives.

Rev. L. F. Gaunt, in the course of a brief address, said that he fully concurred with the statement made at the opening of the service that their predominant thought should be one of trust and thanksgiving for those who had made the supreme sacrifice. They were not to think of those young lives as having been thrown away and lost. No true life would ever be lost, for it was a gift of God, and anything that came from Him could never really die. Standing one day this summer he had watched the field of daisies rippling in the wind, and had rejoined in their beauty, but even as he stood there a mowing machine had come and cut down all the flowers. It seemed a waste of life and beauty, but he remembered that the roots were still there and that the flowers would grow all the fairer and the stronger next year. So it was with those whom we described as having been cut down in their youth. The roots of life had not perished, but would bear flowers and fruit again. Our loved ones, who had passed away, could still be helped by our love and by our prayers. It was for those who remained to prove themselves worthy of the sacrifices that had been made so that at the end they might meet again without shame.

During the evening the following programme was gone through by the members of the Brougham Street Old Scholars’ Choir: Anthem, ‘O God protect with Thy strong hand’ (Grier); sentences and collects; anthem, ‘Rest for the weary’ (Gounod); hymn, ‘For all the Saints’; lesson; magnificat (S. Nicholson); hymn, ‘God of our fathers’; solo, ‘The trumpet shall sound’ (Handel), Clifford Townsend; ‘Hallelujah chorus,’ organ; solo, ‘I know that my Redeemer’ (Handel), D. Wear; anthem, ‘The Lord is my shepherd’ (Smart); hymn, ‘Was there ever kindest shepherd’; anthem, ‘Peace to the souls of the heroes’ (Callcott); hymn, ‘The day Thou gavest.’ During the evening a collection was taken, the proceeds of which are to be devoted to the proposed school memorial.

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