Victor Earl
Victor Earl was one of life’s characters. He was the son of a former Royal Navy Officer, he grew up, lived, worked and played in the historic city of Plymouth.
A talented individual, he liked to appear upon stage in various productions and was well known as a tenor, he certainly had the voice. Vic spent his entire working life, albeit, relatively short, employed by the Post Office where he was held in very high regard.
Vic, a married man, accepted the call of duty to serve in the First World War, he was in his mid-twenties when he joined the Royal Engineers. Deployed to Marseille, in southern France, he would be detailed to serve initially in Egypt. On May 3 1917, he boarded the troopship ‘Transylvania’ to set sail across the Mediterranean, a day later disaster struck. The huge vessel was twice torpedoed by a German U-Boat, just off the coast of north-west Italy, Vic was swept into the sea and drowned.
Sometime later Victor’s body that had floated an incredible 500-miles across the Mediterranean Sea was washed-up on a beach in Spain. Vic was buried in a mausoleum that contains other people, including a number of British sailors, some from the Victorian era. He is the ONLY British soldier killed by enemy action in the entire First World War to be interred in the whole of Spain.
Victor was posthumously awarded a British War Medal (his sole medal entitlement - as he never reached a theatre of war). His widow also received a unique Death Plaque, bearing his name and a Memorial Scroll. We have obtained all three of these artefacts that hold huge historical importance given the circumstances of his tragic death and where he is buried.
PICTURED – Victor on stage in a theatrical production over a century ago with co-star, Violet Sloman and Major Martin Smith VR (retired) actually in Spain with Victor’s British War Medal and Commemorative Plaque and Scroll.
So what next? After being very badly let down with false promises in Spain, we hasten to add not by Spanish people, we have altered our plans. An offer has been made to Plymouth where Victor was from, to see his artefacts returned and for a memorial service to be held. The initial response form the Deputy Lord Mayor has been encouraging.
Victor’s British War Medal (sole entitlement), the Death Plaque and Memorial Scroll.
© JGF MMXXIV
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