Pte Alfred William LITTLEFIELD CH/6700 RMR/B/460 In 1891 aged 19 years Alfred joined the Royal Marine Light Infantry based at Chatham. He was part of the contingent sent to West Africa to stop local chiefs being involved in the Slave Trade. It was known as the Brass River Expedition and took place in 1895. He was awarded the Brass River Medal (East and West Africa). 17-26 February 1895, for operations against King Koko. From there it appears that Alfred was sent to Zanzibar via South Africa. The War in 1896 between Zanzibar and Great Britain has been recorded as history's shortest. Just before noon on August 25, 1896 Sayyid Hamid bin Thuwain bin Said, Sultan of Zanzibar, Pemba, Mafia, Lamu and all of "Syidi" (the mainland "coastal strip"), died. His death started an immediate struggle for the throne among the leading families of Zanzibar. He served on HMS Scylla, HMS Thrush, HMS Philomel and at outbreak of WW1 as part of the Royal Marine Reserve, on HMS Hermes. HMS Hermes wreck coordinates ... 51* 06' 317 N 001* 50' 467 E on the Outer Ruylingen Bank, English Channel. Admiralty Press Bureau records that the following statement was issued: " The Secretary of the Admiralty makes the following announcement. The old cruiser HERMES ( Captain C.R. Lambe) which has been recently used as a sea plane carrying ship was sunk today by a torpedo fired by a German Submarine in the Straits of Dover as she was returning from Dunkirk. Nearly all the officers and crew were saved but the exact loss cannot be ascertained until the men are mustered. The loss of the vessel is of small military significance".[BUT great significance to the families of those killed and injured!] Torpedoed by German submarine U27 whilst acting as an aircraft transport between Dover and France. First torpedo struck from a range of c.300 yards and as the cruiser was sinking by the stern a second torpedo hit her and she then sank quickly...." ] Two French motor torpedo boats were quickly on scene as were a number of other ships in the area and they succeeded in picking up the majority of survivors before, the ship sunk 12 miles ESE of Goodwin at about 8.15am on Saturday 31st October 1914. The Casualty list was later confirmed as 2 killed, 2 injured, 40 missing and 400 saved. The German U-boat 27 was under the command of Kapitanleutnant (Kptlt) Bernd Wegener who sailed on 10 patrols, sinking 29 Allied ships, with a total tonnage of over 29,000 tons. His boat was sunk on 19 August 1915 by the British Q-ship HMS Baralong Alfred's body was never recovered. He left a widow, Ellen and five surviving daughters of their nine children whose ages ranged between 13 years and 10 months old. That baby was my mother, who never knew her father Alfred. Never forgotten.............

Monica Tett