I learned about my Great, Great Grandfather Arthur Richard Pankhurst from my Great Grandmother (his daughter) and my Grandmother (his granddaughter). We have in our family a pair of 3 inch brass ball bearings mounted on ebony. They are really heavy! They are from the submarine the E34 on which AR Pankhurst served in the final year of the war after a long career in the Royal Navy. We understand that after sinking the U-16 on May 10th 1918 the crew took some shore leave and at this time during repairs and maintenance AR Pankhurst took home 2 of the ball bearings removed from the ship and left them as a mantlepiece display. On their very next tour the ship was mined near the Eijerlandse Gronden sands in Holland. I am grateful to have this moment preserved in the heirloom of these brass ball bearings, a piece of a ship that now lays under the sea many miles from home. They are a perfect reminder to me of what they did, to ensure that I never had to. Eternal Father, strong to save, Whose arm doth bind the restless wave, Who bidd’st the mighty ocean deep Its own appointed limits keep; O hear us when we cry to Thee, For those in peril on the sea!

Rhys McClelland