HMS Formidable
The heroic conduct of William Pillar (skipper) and the crew of the Brixham
trawler Provident, which rescued 71 survivors of HMS Formidable, after her
lamentable loss on January 1 (which action will long live in the memory of
the nation) after being torpedoed by a German U-Boat, was rewarded by the
Committee, who presented the Society’s Gold Medal to the skipper, with a
purse of £5, and the Silver Medal and a purse of £3 to each of the other
members of the crew, viz., W Carter (2nd hand), J Clarke (3rd hand), and Dan
Taylor (boy), these awards being publicly presented at Brixham on February
13. It may be remarked that the Gold Medal is only given in exceptional
cases of bravery, and the remarkable courage shown on this occasion was
widely recognised, the men receiving several very substantial rewards,
including medals personally presented to them at Buckingham Palace by the
King. (Only 199 men were saved out of a complement of 750).
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| Subject | Carter, W.; Clark, J.; Pillar, William; Taylor, Dan |
|---|---|
| Title | HMS Formidable |
| Item Date | March 1915 |
| Creation place | Brixham |
| File type | Text |
| Item source | Unknown |
| Item medium | Text: Transcription |
| Content | Other |
| Cataloguer | Everett Sharp |
| Filename | GWA_3950_HMS_Formidable.txt |
| Copyright | The Great War Archive, University of Oxford / Primary Contributor |
| Full Text | The heroic conduct of William Pillar (skipper) and the crew of the Brixham trawler Provident, which rescued 71 survivors of HMS Formidable, after her lamentable loss on January 1 (which action will long live in the memory of the nation) after being torped |
| Digital repository | The Great War Archive, University of Oxford |
| Contributor Name | Julia Allison |
| Contributed on the behalf of | Shipwrecked Mariners' Society |
| Reference URL | http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/gwa/item/5681 |
