Alfred signed up in 1902 when he was just seventeen. He trained on the “Ganges” at Harwich and rose to be a Stoker First Class, sailing finally on the unfortunate “Pathfinder”.  Alfred was always good to his parents and returned home on leave whenever he could although at that time this may have been infrequent. Mr and Mrs Rumbles last saw Alfred at Easter 1914 as did his fiancée, Edith Holland.  At the time of his death The Lynn News stated that ”Alfred Rumbles gained the esteem and respect of all with whom he came in contact, by his sober, steady and manly bearing..The news of Pathfinder’s destruction reached Grimston the day after the attack and on the following day, a Monday, a telegram arrived to inform the family of Alfred’s death. He was definitely not amongst the eighteen survivors (from a crew of two hundred and sixty-eight) as his body had been found and was buried at Dalmeny, Scotland.

 

Steph Hall