Name
Alfred Bunn
1898
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
12/01/1918
19
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Able Seaman
London/Z/2334
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
H.M.S. "Narbrough."
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 /15 Star, British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
CHATHAM NAVAL MEMORIAL
31
United Kingdom
Headstone Inscription
He has no known grave. He is commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial, Chatham, Kent.
UK & Other Memorials
Not on the Cheshunt memorials
Pre War
Alfred Bunn was born in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, on 20th May 1898, son of Arthur Bunn a Florist’s Assistant and Mary Ann Bunn (nee Radley). One of seven children.
1901 Census records Alfred aged 2, living with his parents and six siblings at 19, Town Road, Edmonton, Middex.
1911 Census records Alfred (12), at school, living with his parents and three siblings, still at, 19, Town Road, Edmonton, Middx.
Wartime Service
Alfred enlisted in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve on 19th June 1915.
He was lost at sea on 12th January 1918, while serving aboard HMS “Narborough”.
“On the night of 11th/12th January 1918, HMS “Narborough” an M-Class Destroyer and HMS Opal, were on night patrol off the Orkney Coast, searching for German U-Boats and Minelayers. Both ships received orders to return to Scapa Flow due to bad weather. A snow storm and heavy Seas reduced visibility to almost zero. Both ships ran aground and were lost. It was two day before rescue arrived due to the weather. 188 lives were lost, only 1 person survived”.
Alfred’s body was never found, he is commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial, Chatham, Kent, to the missing at sea.
Additional Information
His only known connection to Cheshunt was that he was born there. His mother Mary received a dependents pension of 5/- a week for the loss of two sons, her address was 19, Town Road, Lower Edmonton, Middx. His eldest brother Private G/1461 Ernest Arthur Bunn, of the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), died on 26th May 1915, of wound received in action and has no known connection to Cheshunt.
Acknowledgments
Stuart Osborne
Jonty Wild
