AN ARCHIVE OF LETTERS AND PHOTOGRAPHS FROM LIUTENANT JOHN BO...

Hammer

£550

AN ARCHIVE OF LETTERS AND PHOTOGRAPHS FROM LIUTENANT JOHN BOSTOCK RN.
Two extensive albums of letters, photographs and documents, a unique archive from Midshipman, later Acting Lieutenant John Bostock R.N. who was present at the battle of the Flaklands and Jutland.
The earliest letter is dated January 24th 1914 from HMS Cornwall which leaves Plymouth for Gibraltar on a tour which will travel until July. The numerous letters, some on headed paper with an image of the Cornwall, from this cruise are accompanied by various photographs. Bostock describing the Cornwall as 'quite an ordinary old County class' accounts of training with torpedoes, guns, battle practice and visits ashore. Present at the Spithead review in July 'we are in our proper place amongst all the old crocks'.
On July 31st he wrote from Devonport 'if there is war we go South to protect commerce' ... 'I don't think there is any doubt as to the result ... I think Germany will be beaten pretty badly'. By September 8th 'we have not yet fired a shot ... [we did] capture 70 Germans & Austrians'.
By the 25th of November he is remarking on the action of Coronel and the sinking of the Good Hope and Monmouth, commenting 'I think there is quite a good chance of getting into action sometime with the Scharnhorst' There follows his account of the Battle of the Falklands ending with 'Everyone was quite calm & my gun crew worked excellently even when the three shells hit just below the casement ...' a hand drawn map of the battle is included alongside a longer hand written and typed 'Account of Battle off Falkland Isles Dec 8th 1914. and a letter 'I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the whole action except the end when we were trying to get out the boats and it was freezing'.
By April 1915 Bostock has joined Warspite and at sea by the 12th, after which follows a period where letters are taken up with thanks for cakes and fruit, talk of sidecars and uniform with occasional gunnery practice. Bostock sees significant action at Jutland and the battle is covered in an eleven page hand written account of the action. The Warspite played an important role at the battle of Jutland under Commander Humphrey Walwyn, famously losing control of her steering and circling dangerously close to the German fleet and in doing so drawing huge amounts of fire from the enemy. Bostock's report covers the battle in detail 'my own job is supervising the ammunition supply to the guns' accounts of shells hitting the ship and his lucky escape from injury, fighting fires, helping the wounded and shelling enemy ships. The account is followed in the album by a telegram, presumably to his mother reporting him 'safe and well'.
Jutland seems to have been the highlight of his naval career and extracts from his report are included in Peter Hart and Nigel Steel's book Jutland 1916 Death in the Grey Wastes. Service aboard H.M.S. Medway, Walpole, Centurion, Ajax, the final letter in the collection being dated 24th June 1920.