FRANK ALDRED NUNN
Image from the Suffolk Chronicle And Mercury – 1915.
Born: 8th June 1890, Ipswich.
Baptised as an adult on the 15th March 1906, at St. Mary Elms Church, Ipswich – family home at 17, Wolsey Street, Ipswich.
Died: 5th September 1914; age 24. KiA with submarine off Firth of Forth.
Residence: 17, Wolsey Street, Ipswich.
Occupation: Fitter – Messrs. Reavell for 15 months, followed by 12 months at Portsmouth Dockyard.
While in Ipswich, Frank was a member of the 4th Suffolk; he took his discharge on joining the Navy.
Enlistment Location: Chatham, Kent; Signed up for 12 years – 20th January 1914. Height: 5 ft 7 in, fresh complexion, grey eyes & brown hair.
Service:
Pembroke I – Engine Room Artificer 4th Class – 20th January 1914 – 15th May 1914
Pathfinder – Engine Room Artificer 4th Class – 16th May 1914 – 5th September 1914.
Rank: Engine Room Artificer 4th Class; Service Number: M/7311
Regiment: Royal Navy, H.M.S. ‘Pathfinder’.
Memorial Reference:
4.
Kent.
Relatives Notified & Address: Second son of George Nunn, of 17, Wolsey Street, Ipswich & the late Mary Ann Nunn.
CENSUS
1891 32, Chevalier Street, Ipswich.
Frank was 9 months old and living with his parents & brother.
George Nunn, 30, a Clerk & Storekeeper for the Sanitary Authority, born East Harling, Norfolk.
Mary Ann Nunn (nee Warner), 31, born Ipswich.
Herbert George Nunn, 2, born Ipswich.
1901 32, Chevalier Street, Ipswich.
Frank was 10 years old and living with his parents & siblings.
George, 40, a Clerk & Storekeeper – Ipswich Corporation.
Mary, 39.
Herbert, 12.
Dorothy Alice Nunn, 8, born Ipswich.
1911 17, Wolsey Street, Ipswich.
Frank was 20 years old and living with his widowed father & siblings.
George, 50, a Clerk & Storekeeper – Ipswich Corporation.
Herbert, 22, a Commercial Clerk.
Dorothy, 18, Housekeeper.
Frank’s mother, Mary Ann Nunn, died on the 18th May 1909 at 17 Wolsey Street, Ipswich and was buried in Section K at Ipswich Old Cemetery.
Frank was educated at the Higher Elementary School, Ipswich and is remembered on the war memorial at Northgate High School. Formerly Ipswich Grammar School for Boys. He served his apprenticeship with Messrs. Cocksedge and Co.
Frank is also remembered on his parents’ headstone at Ipswich Old Cemetery.
Evening Star – Tuesday, 8th September 1914 – PATHFINDER DISASTER – IPSWICH MAN AMONG THE MISSING – Many friends in Ipswich will learn with regret that Mr. Frank Aldred Nunn, second son of Mr. Frank Nunn, Corporation Yard, is one of the missing of the ill-fated Pathfinder, which struck a mine off the Scottish coast.
Frank Nunn, who was 24 years of age, was an active engine room artificer, fourth class. He was educated at the Higher Elementary School, Ipswich, and served his apprenticeship with Messrs. Cocksedge and Co., afterwards working with Messrs. Reavell for a space of fifteen months. He was next at Portsmouth Dockyard for twelve months, and in January last he joined His Majesty’s Navy.
On the 4th, his father received a letter from Frank in which it said, “All’s well” and returned thanks for some plums sent to him, and concluded with the words “, It’s a job to know what to write about. Under existing circumstances, it would be no trouble to fill pages otherwise.” In a letter to his brother the day before, he said, ” We are longing for the Germans to come out of Kiel that we may have a real good smack and get my belated holiday.”
H.M.S. ‘Pathfinder’ wreck film.
ENGINE ROOM ARTIFICER
All Artificers were considerably better paid than other trades. An ERA 1st class was paid about twice as much as a seaman CPO received. Most Engine Room Artificers entered as apprentices and joined a ship at the 5th class level to complete the sea phase of their training. Electrical and Ordnance Artificers and some ERAs were hired as qualified Artificers and entered at the Artificer 3rd or 2nd Class level. They often had a minimum naval background and were mostly valued for their technical expertise.
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