As sheer luck would have it, I was at the Imperial War Museum earlier this week and saw that gun (didn’t take a picture of it though). Didn’t realize the tragedy around his parents however and it’s a shame that his mother was reduced to such circumstances. Surely a VC or MoH ought to come with a small pension for the survivors.
She DID receive a 'small pension' as her son's heir:
""On the 25th of October 1916 Jack’s father Eli died whilst on active service. The following month, on the 16th of November 1916, Jack’s mother received her son’s V.C. from The King at Buckingham Palace.
By 1919, Jack’s mother Lily, was living in reduced circumstances and working in a sailors’ hostel to supplement a very small pension awarded for her son.""
A better question should be, "Shouldn't she have also received a pension from the death of her husband on active service?"
Here in the US, the MoH also comes with a slot at one of the Service Academies for a child of the awardee who otherwise qualifies.
Thanks. More parents of young service members and cadets/ midshipmen at Service Academies/ Senior Military Colleges and ROTC programs should read this. Seeing the way some of my peer parents discuss and refer to our Cadets attending a certain Senior Military College, often my head wants to explode. The "helicopter moms" and even some dads loose sight of the fact that the "kid" they dropped off to start school a few years ago are no longer kids. And have grown into pretty incredible young men and women. And in even shorter time, many will join the ranks of the Services, being placed into daily duties, that by their very nature carry inherent risk. And in completely extreme cases, they could well be placed into positions of tactical leadership of Soldiers, Marines, Airmen, Sailors, and Coast Guardsmen in combat.
An analogy to “What a ‘Boy’ can do aboard ship” is how the young children were used in the Northern Textile Factories ..
From a Neurological perspective, the brains of boys mature slower than the brains of girls.
You have heard of the “Implanting” technique used by water fowl from birth?
Certainly you are familiar Maslow’s Hierarchy? Children need to be loved!
Your historical accounts of the accomplishments aboard ship are note worthy. Your writings about young American adults living in their parent’s home are correct.
Allowing American children up to an including age twenty-six (26) to remain on parent’s health insurance does not encourage “Financial Independence”. Rather, “Dependence and Compliance” are imprinted on the young American College Graduate, especially those seeking careers in Medicine or Law. Texas in-state medical tuition is $30K per year!
“Law Jurisprudence” is my educational track at Anne Arundel Community College. I’m a septuagenarian! My Naval Training gave me the motivation to succeed at what I enjoy doing!
Let’s hear it for the value of serving in our American Armed Forces! Very respectfully, Nurse Jane
For the worlds events have rumbled on since those gagged days, Like traffic checked while at the crossing of city-ways: And the haunted gap in your mind has filled with thoughts that flow, like clouds in the lit heaven of life; and you're a man reprieved to go, Taking your peaceful share of Time, with joy to spare.
But the past is just the same--and War's a bloody game...
Have you forgotten yet?....
Look down, and swear by the slain of the War that you'll never forget.
Since time immemorial, every generation has complained that the younger generations were lazy, incompetent and lacked motivation. I go with Bill McRaven, who said of those complaining about millennials and Gen Z, that anyone who characterized them as “soft little entitled snowflakes” had never seen them “in a firefight in Afghanistan.”
I am in awe of the Cornwells, Jack, Eli and Lily. It is good that you remind us of their courage and sacrifice.
As to the word "boy". Perhaps it is my Okie upbringing, boy can be derogatory, friendly or refer to age. Tone is, of course, critical in distinguishing between the two meanings.
I am 74, but if one my peers refers to me as a boy, I know he means it kindly. I am one of the group, a member of a trusted community.
If I use "boy" and refer to a grown man, I am insulting that person. I am saying you may have the years, but you lack the gravitas to be an adult. Also used to describe some fool who is ignorant while acting as a "know-it-all." For example, a fellow who declines instruction on operating a tractor, then reverses the machine into the shed, will enjoy the title "boy" til the end of days.
In Jack's case, he was a "boy" with a lion's heart - a man in everything except years.
CDR Sal, Thank you for this posting. I feel bad as well. I have visited the IWM and never knew. But I do know now. I plan to pay a visit.
To First Class J. T. Cornwell: Thank you for your dedicated service and the ultimate sacrifice, for country and King. With the utmost respect........Hand Salute..........Two.
There are 'inspiring and humbling' accounts of exceptional courage and fortitude in combat and then there are truly inspiring and humbling accounts. This is certainly of the latter category. Remarkable in every way, thank you.
I stumbled across the gun 35 years ago visiting the Imperial War Museum. It was sobering to me then, because 20 year old me wasn’t sure that 16 year old me would have had an equal amount of courage. Reading the rest of the story now, with children of my own, 50-something me wonders whether this changed the level of risk his father was willing to assume in his own service.
I was talking to a VFW 25 years ago, when I was a post command O5 Department Chair at the Naval Academy. I had gotten into the habit of calling my young sailors and midshipmen "kids," using terms like "the kids today are sharp, dedicated, etc." and never meant in a disparaging way. An old vet came up to me afterwards and said something to me along your lines. "They're not kids. They're adults serving their country!" I never used it again. And whenever I hear it, be it in a military or civilian context, it makes me bristle, and I pass on his advice! Thank God that old guy stopped me and corrected my thinking 25 years ago -- or I might still be saying it!
As sheer luck would have it, I was at the Imperial War Museum earlier this week and saw that gun (didn’t take a picture of it though). Didn’t realize the tragedy around his parents however and it’s a shame that his mother was reduced to such circumstances. Surely a VC or MoH ought to come with a small pension for the survivors.
She DID receive a 'small pension' as her son's heir:
""On the 25th of October 1916 Jack’s father Eli died whilst on active service. The following month, on the 16th of November 1916, Jack’s mother received her son’s V.C. from The King at Buckingham Palace.
By 1919, Jack’s mother Lily, was living in reduced circumstances and working in a sailors’ hostel to supplement a very small pension awarded for her son.""
A better question should be, "Shouldn't she have also received a pension from the death of her husband on active service?"
Here in the US, the MoH also comes with a slot at one of the Service Academies for a child of the awardee who otherwise qualifies.
I too have been there, albeit nearly 25 years ago now, and did not know the story.
Now I do. Fullbore!
Same. I visited the museum in 2001 but I didn't know this story then. Fullbore!
Thanks. More parents of young service members and cadets/ midshipmen at Service Academies/ Senior Military Colleges and ROTC programs should read this. Seeing the way some of my peer parents discuss and refer to our Cadets attending a certain Senior Military College, often my head wants to explode. The "helicopter moms" and even some dads loose sight of the fact that the "kid" they dropped off to start school a few years ago are no longer kids. And have grown into pretty incredible young men and women. And in even shorter time, many will join the ranks of the Services, being placed into daily duties, that by their very nature carry inherent risk. And in completely extreme cases, they could well be placed into positions of tactical leadership of Soldiers, Marines, Airmen, Sailors, and Coast Guardsmen in combat.
Good Morning CDR Salamander and shipmates.
An analogy to “What a ‘Boy’ can do aboard ship” is how the young children were used in the Northern Textile Factories ..
From a Neurological perspective, the brains of boys mature slower than the brains of girls.
You have heard of the “Implanting” technique used by water fowl from birth?
Certainly you are familiar Maslow’s Hierarchy? Children need to be loved!
Your historical accounts of the accomplishments aboard ship are note worthy. Your writings about young American adults living in their parent’s home are correct.
Allowing American children up to an including age twenty-six (26) to remain on parent’s health insurance does not encourage “Financial Independence”. Rather, “Dependence and Compliance” are imprinted on the young American College Graduate, especially those seeking careers in Medicine or Law. Texas in-state medical tuition is $30K per year!
“Law Jurisprudence” is my educational track at Anne Arundel Community College. I’m a septuagenarian! My Naval Training gave me the motivation to succeed at what I enjoy doing!
Let’s hear it for the value of serving in our American Armed Forces! Very respectfully, Nurse Jane
" Have you forgotten yet?....
For the worlds events have rumbled on since those gagged days, Like traffic checked while at the crossing of city-ways: And the haunted gap in your mind has filled with thoughts that flow, like clouds in the lit heaven of life; and you're a man reprieved to go, Taking your peaceful share of Time, with joy to spare.
But the past is just the same--and War's a bloody game...
Have you forgotten yet?....
Look down, and swear by the slain of the War that you'll never forget.
Siegfried Sassoon
There will still be a Navy . . . bu someday there will be no "sailors" . . . sad. But inevitable.
Since time immemorial, every generation has complained that the younger generations were lazy, incompetent and lacked motivation. I go with Bill McRaven, who said of those complaining about millennials and Gen Z, that anyone who characterized them as “soft little entitled snowflakes” had never seen them “in a firefight in Afghanistan.”
Good day,
I am in awe of the Cornwells, Jack, Eli and Lily. It is good that you remind us of their courage and sacrifice.
As to the word "boy". Perhaps it is my Okie upbringing, boy can be derogatory, friendly or refer to age. Tone is, of course, critical in distinguishing between the two meanings.
I am 74, but if one my peers refers to me as a boy, I know he means it kindly. I am one of the group, a member of a trusted community.
If I use "boy" and refer to a grown man, I am insulting that person. I am saying you may have the years, but you lack the gravitas to be an adult. Also used to describe some fool who is ignorant while acting as a "know-it-all." For example, a fellow who declines instruction on operating a tractor, then reverses the machine into the shed, will enjoy the title "boy" til the end of days.
In Jack's case, he was a "boy" with a lion's heart - a man in everything except years.
CDR Sal, Thank you for this posting. I feel bad as well. I have visited the IWM and never knew. But I do know now. I plan to pay a visit.
To First Class J. T. Cornwell: Thank you for your dedicated service and the ultimate sacrifice, for country and King. With the utmost respect........Hand Salute..........Two.
There are 'inspiring and humbling' accounts of exceptional courage and fortitude in combat and then there are truly inspiring and humbling accounts. This is certainly of the latter category. Remarkable in every way, thank you.
We were all Boys once and quite frankly I don't remember the transition.
A great bit of history that somehow leaves one melancholy about how it ended.
I stumbled across the gun 35 years ago visiting the Imperial War Museum. It was sobering to me then, because 20 year old me wasn’t sure that 16 year old me would have had an equal amount of courage. Reading the rest of the story now, with children of my own, 50-something me wonders whether this changed the level of risk his father was willing to assume in his own service.
I was talking to a VFW 25 years ago, when I was a post command O5 Department Chair at the Naval Academy. I had gotten into the habit of calling my young sailors and midshipmen "kids," using terms like "the kids today are sharp, dedicated, etc." and never meant in a disparaging way. An old vet came up to me afterwards and said something to me along your lines. "They're not kids. They're adults serving their country!" I never used it again. And whenever I hear it, be it in a military or civilian context, it makes me bristle, and I pass on his advice! Thank God that old guy stopped me and corrected my thinking 25 years ago -- or I might still be saying it!
Nice job with this young man. Some day you might look up a kid named Ernst Lossa. A German teenager during WWII.