Mss. letters of Lieutenant J Bostock to his parents and his brother Peter. Vol. II.

This second volume of Bostock's letters covers his service as a Midshipman in HMS Warspite (5th Battle Squadron) from March 1915 to June 1916; as a Sub-Lieutenant in HMS Attack (1st Destroyer Flotilla) from June to August 1916 and in HMS Medway (13th Destroyer Flotilla) from August 1916 to December 1918 (he was promoted Lieutenant in March 1918); as a Lieutenant in the destroyer Walpole for a few weeks in early 1919 and in the battleship Ajax on the Mediterranean Station from January 1920 until the summer of 1921. From March 1915 onwards, his war service was therefore exclusively with the Grand Fleet in Northern waters. As the great majority of his letters are concerned with family matters or minor details of ship's routine, only those letters which are of more general interest have been copied and these are described below.

No 1 HMS Warspite 1 p. 3 June 1915

Mentions recent gunroom recreations, but "... one day is very like another."

No 2 HMS Warspite 1 p. 19 August 1915

Comments on the award of the VC to Midshipman W St A Malleson.

No 3 HMS Warspite 1 p. 27 December 1915

Some public school entry midshipmen have joined the ship. "They are not really much good and most of them seem half baked."

No 4 HMS Warspite 1 p. 6 June 1916

His initial reactions to the Battle of Jutland. "It was undoubtedly a great victory for us as the admiralty have stated our own losses to the full and seem to have minimized those of the Huns."

No 5 HMS Warspite 11 pp.

ND (ca June 1916) A long and interesting description of his own experiences at the Battle of Jutland, in which his action station was at the starboard 6-inch battery. Warspite suffered some damage during the action and there was a fire in Bostock's battery but he was not injured. A 7 pp. typed transcription has been made of this account.

No 6 HMS Attack 2 pp. 15 July 1916

"... we have great hopes of turning over to one of the new boats just commissioning."

No 7 HMS Medway 1 p. 19 November 1917

"Just a line to say that I was in the scrap on Saturday and that I am O.K. The ship was undamaged."

No 8 HMS Medway 6 pp. 18 November 1917

An interesting personal account of the action in the Heligoland Bight on 17 November 1917, which seems to confirm the subsequent judgement of historians that a superior British force failed to inflict any significant damage on a German force of light cruisers, destroyers and minesweepers.

No 9 HMS Medway 3 pp. 20 January 1918

Much to Bostock's relief, his Commanding Officer has been appointed to another ship.

No 10 HMS Medway 2 pp. 11 April 1918

Some amusing thoughts on the manpower shortage.

No 11 HMS Medway 2 pp. 23 November 1918

Armistice Day celebrations in Northern waters.

No 12 HMS Walpole 2 pp. 13 January 1919

The arrival of the German battleship Baden at Scapa Flow for internment; his thoughts on his new ship.

No 13 HMS Ajax 2 pp. 20 January 1920

The ship has just commissioned at Malta and is likely to be ordered to the Black Sea to embark refugees and bombard Bolshevik positions.

No 14 HMS Ajax 6 pp. 13 February 1920

The Ajax had been to Odessa to assist in the evacuation of refugees and General Schilling's Volunteer Army (one of the four armies under General Denikin). The evacuation had been chaotic, but Ajax's guns had kept the Bolshevik forces at a respectful distance during the proceedings.

No 15 HMS Ajax 3 pp. 17 March 1920

Because the Turkish Nationalist party seemed "... to be arming people and carrying out propaganda against the Allies ...", Constantinople had been placed under martial law and parties of marines landed from Ajax to help in its enforcement.

No 16 HMS Ajax 2 pp. 20 April 1920

The ship has been in action at Sochi with Bolshevik troops advancing south along the eastern shore of the Black Sea towards Batpum.

No 17 HMS Ajax 2 pp. 1 May 1920

"The remains of Denikin's men at Sochi are in a pretty bad way and with very little Food."

No 18 HMS Ajax 2 pp. 5 June 1920

Ajax is acting as guard ship at Sevastopol.

No 19 HMS Ajax 2 pp. 19 June 1920

The ship is at Batoum, where "they are beginning to get ready to evacuate the place and we have had a party ashore blowing up guns for the (last) two days." He expects the Bolsheviks to occupy the town within a few weeks.

No 20 HMS Ajax 1 p. 12 July 1920

Batoum "... is now in the hands of the Georgians who have proclaimed martial law and are busy arresting anyone of any note."

No 21 HMS Ajax 2 pp. 26 July 1920

The ship is back at Constantinople, where the Nationalists are still causing problems.

No 22 HMS Ajax 2 pp. 15 August 1920

The ship is at Ismid, and Bostock concludes that "... the nationalist business seems to be more or less finished as an organized show."

No 23 HMS Ajax 3 pp. 4 December 1920

He refers to the fate of the large number of White Russian refugees.

No 24 HMS Ajax 3 pp. 24 January 1921 An explanation of the unusual gun mountings in the ship and the difficulties that they pose.