Clifford Kenningley

War Service

Perhaps being underground did not suit Clifford – he was just 18 years old when he joined the Royal Navy on 24 October 1913.
After training at the shore station HMS Victory II Clifford transferred to HMS Bulwark in March 1914 with the rank of stoker (presumably if you had worked in the mines, you could shovel coal).
Unfortunately Clifford would not have a long naval career.
On 26 November 1914 HMS Bulwark, a 15,000 ton battleship, was moored at buoy number 17 on the River Medway. Just after 7.50am, whilst taking on coal, an explosion occurred ripping the ship apart. Eyewitnesses stated that once the smoke had cleared there was no sign of the ship.
After “question time” in the House of Commons in the afternoon of 26 November, the First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill made the following statement:
“I regret to say that I have some bad news for the House. The Bulwark battleship, which was lying in Sheerness this morning, blew up at 7.53am. The Vice and Rear Admirals who were present have reported their conviction it was an internal magazine explosion, which rent the ship asunder. There was apparently no upheaval of water. The ship had entirely disappeared when the smoke cleared away. An enquiry will be held tomorrow, which may possibly throw more light on this occurrence. The loss of the ship does not sensibly affect the military position, but I regret to say that the loss of life is very severe. Only twelve men were saved, and all the officers and rest of the crew, which, I suppose amounted to between 700 and 800 persons have perished. I think the House would wish me to express on its behalf the deep sympathy and sorrow with those who have lost their relatives and friends.”
Clifford, aged just 19 years, was one of those men to lose their life on that day. Stoker 1st Class Thomas Arthur Hardy of Normanton, another local lad, was also a casualty. In all, the explosion killed 745 men and 51 officers.
Five of the fourteen men who survived later died of their wounds and almost all of the others were seriously wounded. There are mass and individual graves in Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham for the Bulwark’s dead.
The local papers immediately suspected sabotage. However, the subsequent naval court of enquiry (held at the Royal Naval Hospital, Gillingham) found that much of the ammunition for the ships guns had been stored in the corridors between the eleven magazines. The court of enquiry concluded that either a fault with one of the shells or overheating cordite near a boiler room bulkhead could have started a chain reaction, which destroyed the ship.
Alternatively, was there another cause of the explosion? The court of enquiry heard that HMS Bulwark was taking on coal at the time of the explosion. The court of enquiry may not have been aware of experiments, conducted between 1909 and 1913 by William Garforth (later Sir William Garforth) at Pope and Pearson West Riding Colliery, Altofts, demonstrating the explosive nature of coal dust and air without the presence of flammable gas. We shall never know if the coal dust generated during the coaling operation was a contributing factor in starting the chain reaction, which destroyed the ship.
An extract from the Wakefield Express, dated 6 February 1915, reported the following:
“This week Mr Gathorne Robinson of Normanton Road, Altofts, has received a telegram from the Admiralty, stating that on the body of one of the victims of the “Bulwark” disaster had been found a letter bearing his name and address. Could he assist them as to the identity of the sailor to whom he had written?
Mr Robinson at once replied that it would be that of his friend Archibald Kenningley of Green Bank Road, Altofts.
It will be remembered that Kenningley was mentioned as serving on the boat at the time of the terrible disaster.”
(Note: I believe the report is mistaken – Archibald was Clifford’s father)
Gathorne Robinson was a similar age to Clifford, Archibald’s son. In June 1915, Gathorne Robinson at the age of 18 years, joined the Yorkshire Hussars and later transferred to the Royal Air Force, another of Altofts’ young men to pay the ultimate price for King and Country (see Robinson, Gathorne Clegg on this website).
Clifford’s mother Ann died in 1919 in Medway, Kent. Could she have made the long journey to see the final resting place of her son in Gillingham Woodlands Cemetery?
Although baptised at All Saints Parish Church Normanton on 7 November 1895 Clifford became a member of the congregation of Altofts Upper Methodist Chapel. A memorial to all members of the chapel and congregation who made the ultimate sacrifice remains in the chapel to this day, sited at the rear of the worship area.
Of the 71 men remembered on the Altofts Memorial Clifford was one of the first men to lose his life during the First World War, only preceded by Able Seaman William Charles Long of Church Road, Altofts and Able Seaman Percy Osborne of 23, Greenbank Road, Altofts, who ironically lived only a few doors away from Clifford’s home.

Family Life

Clifford was born on 15 October 1895, the first child of Archibald and Jane Kenningley. Archibald married Jane Rummings at All Saints Parish Church Normanton in February 1895. Clifford, at the age of 6 years, lived with his parents and one-year-old sister Eva at 32, Mill Lane, Normanton.
Sometime prior to 1911 the family moved to live in Altofts at 53, Greenbank Road. Clifford’s father Archie worked in a colliery employed as a “hewer”.
After leaving school, Clifford at the age of 12 years, followed his father into the mine. In 1911 Clifford at the age of 15 years, was working as a pony driver.