David Crawford

Military Information

  • Date of enlistment:
  • Place of enlistment:
  • Service no: 311339
  • Rank: Leading Stoker
  • Service Occupation:
  • Awards:
  • Regiment/Service: H.M.S. Recruit
  • Unit/Ship: Royal Navy
  • Place of Death: Lost at Sea
  • Age at Death: 26
  • Date of Death: 01/05/1915
  • Burial Country:
  • Cemetery: Chatham Naval Memorial
  • Grave/Mem Ref no: Panel 11

Personal Information

  • Date of Birth:
  • Place of Birth: Perth
  • Address: 10 South George Street, Dundee
  • Occupation: Mason
  • Mother:

    Janet Crawford, 10 South George St, Dundee

  • Father:

    David Crawford, 10 South George St, Dundee

  • Siblings:

    John, William, 1 additional brother & 2 sisters (names unknown)

  • Spouse:
  • Children:

More about David Crawford

David has no known grave but is remembered on the Chatham Naval Memorial. He had 2 brothers who also served during the Great War. C.S.M. John Crawford, 11794/29664, of the 1st Battalion, Highland Light Infantry and Pte William Crawford 11000 of the 4th Battalion, Canadian Infantry who was killed in action 23/04/1915 in Belgium.

David’s 2nd brother died due to drowning in the River Tay.

DUNDEE FAMILY HARD HIT BY THE WAR. ONE SON DROWNED, ONE KILLED, AND ANOTHER WOUNDED. A Dundee family has been heavily stricken by the war, two sons having lost their lives and another having been wounded. They are: – Leading Stoker David Crawford, of H.M.S. Recruit (drowned); Private William Crawford, a member of the 4th Battalion Canadians (killed in action); and Private John Crawford, of the 1st Highland Light Infantry (wounded).
Stoker David, who was 25 years of age, went down with his ship in the North Sea on 1st May. He served in the navy for eight years.
Private William was killed in action on 23d April, and was 24 years of age. He had seen three years’ service in the Canadians, and was employed in a steel factory in Ontario, where he went several years ago. While in Dundee he was employed at the West Station as a goods porter.
Private John, who is 22 years of age, was wounded on 12th March by a piece of shell, which struck him on the right cheek. He has been attached to his regiment for about four years.
Mrs Crawford, who resides at 10 South George Street, Dundee, has received the official intimation. The Courier, Friday, 25 June 1915, 6.

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David Crawford was the son of Mr David and Mrs Janet Crawford of 10 South George Street, Dundee and joined the Royal Navy in February 1907, giving his occupation as a Mason. After training as Stoker 2nd Class he served in HM Ships Leviathan, Black Prince and St George. By the outbreak of war he had been advanced to Acting Leading Stoker and was serving in the destroyer HMS Recruit. With the outbreak of hostilities the Recruit was assigned to the Nore Local Defence Flotilla. Her duties included anti-submarine and counter mining patrols in the Thames Estuary. On 1 May 1915 Recruit was patrolling with sister ship Brazen in the southern North Sea, 30 miles south-west of the Galloper Lightvessel off the Thames Estuary, when she was struck by a single torpedo fired by the German submarine UB-6. Recruit broke in two and sank quickly with the loss of thirty nine men but twenty six crew were rescued. David Crawford’s name is listed on the Chatham Naval Memorial. He is rated as Stoker in the Dundee City Roll of Honour.

Iain Stewart and Iain Birnie

Information supplied by Gary Thomson.

Further information supplied by Iain Stewart and Iain Birnie

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