Captain David Salomons

Many of the Kent Field Company of Royal Engineers were drowned on their way to fight at Gallipoli

Gallipoli is often recognised as one of the biggest disasters for British and Allied troops during World War One, but not so many people may know of the profound affect it had on the communities of Southborough and Tunbridge Wells.

More than 80 men from the area were killed on a troop ship even before they managed to make it to the beaches.

They were members of the 1st/3rd (Kent) Field Company of Royal Engineers who had signed up to help the war effort.

On the night of October 28, 1915, the men were on the small paddle steamer HMS Hythe in the eastern Mediterranean. The 231 men had transferred to the converted cross-Channel ferry ready to land at Helles.

Tragically just as they were about to land they were hit by another much bigger Navy troop ship, the HMS Sarnia.

Judith Johnson is a local historian who has researched the tragedy.

She said: “It was a rough night. They had no navigation lights so they could not be seen by the Turks onshore so the other ship didn’t see them. HMS Hythe was practically cut in two.

“Those men had only just left England. They were crowded shoulder to shoulder on board and were waiting to be landed. The ship went down in 10 minutes.”

Some of the men were killed instantly in the collision with the bigger ship. Others drowned because they had already got in their vehicles and were unable to escape once the collision had occurred.

More than 150 men drowned despite the rescue efforts of the crew from the HMS Sarnia, nearly all of them from Kent.

One of the most tragic deaths was that of Captain David Salomons. The 30-year-old was the only son and heir of Sir David Lionel Salomons one of the country’s leading scientists and a pioneer of electricity.

The Salomons were a wealthy Jewish family who lived in Southborough. They owned a large estate, now the site of the Salomons Museum, owned by Canterbury Christchurch University.

It had been built by an earlier David Salomons, founder of the Westminster Bank, former Mayor of London and the first Jewish man to speak in the House of Commons.

When the war started the family played a key role in encouraging local men to join the Royal Engineers.

David Salomans had studied at Cambridge and travelled widely in Europe and Japan. When the war began he completed his officer training in Chatham. He was commanding his troops when the collision with HMS Sarnia happened.

He drowned trying to save his men, even giving his own lifejacket to a fellow soldier who did not have one.

Judith Johnson said: “The Salomons were a real forward and innovative presence in the town, when he died the direct line died and his sister gave the house away. If he had lived the family may still have been a major force in the town so it did alter the history of Southborough in lots of ways.”

A letter has recently been found in Hastings in which Major Alfred Ruston writes to David Salomons’ family telling them of the bravery their son showed that night. It will soon go on display at the Salomons Museum.

The Southborough war memorial has around 20 names of some of the men who died that night, including Captain David Salomons. Another marble memorial plaque to all the men who died can be found in St Matthew’s Church in Broomhill.

Tragically, the day before the men embarked for the Dardanelles the British Government had decided not to send any more men to Gallipoli because the campaign had been such a disaster.

Ms Johnson has researched many of the men found on the war memorial who died that night and others from the regiment who died in the Gallipoli Campaign.

She said: “It would have been a massive shock to the community at the time but now it is almost forgotten. The few survivors that were left did parade in memory to their fallen colleagues up until the 60s but that ended as they got older. It’s important that young people in the community remember who these young men were on the Southborough war memorial.”

If you can help Judith Johnson with her research or find out more about Southborough war memorial visit www.judithjohnson.co.uk.