I have always had an interest in the world wars, but more so now that I know I had relatives who served in the wars. I found out about William when I was going through a box of old family photos, I found his at the bottom of the box covered in dirt and grime, I cleaned it up and asked my mother about him, but all she knew was that he died during the First World War and that he was on a ship when it was sunk and that was all she knew.

So not knowing anything about this photo I had found and cleaned up, I went about finding information about him, which was not an easy job, to find out why read the column on researchers on this page.

William Christopher Fielding (pictured above left, click to enlarge photo), he served in the Merchant Navy during World War One, and died doing his duty, the vessel he was on was attacked with no warning by the German U-Boat UB-59,(the probable and only reason the u-boat attacked with no warning is that the S.S South Western was an armed merchant vessel, you can find out more about UB-59 on her details page, found in the main menu to the left), his vessel was carrying general cargo too St.Malo, this cargo would have been food, clothing and ammunition ect ect.

The S.S South Western which done deliveries from Portsmouth too Jersey (Channel islands U.K) and St.Malo, the vessel was owned by the South Western Railway Company, you will find out more history about the S.S South Western and UB-59 on their separate pages, and on each page you will find out more about the fateful date that William lost his life at sea.

William's Job Description.
 

William Fielding's job as an Able Seaman would have involved standing watch at bow or wing of the bridge to keep look out for obstructions or as in war time u-boats or other vessels of war, (which very well means he could've been the first to spot UB-59 and the danger ahead and also means he may have well been killed instantly as the bridge was destroyed in the attack).
Turn wheel on bridge or use emergency equipment as directed by mate. Other tasks he may have performed; maintaining visual communication with other ships, Steering ship under direction of ship's commander or navigating officer, or directs helmsman to steer, following designated course.
Maintains the vessel i.e. painting and removing rust, gives directions to ships crew engaged in the maintenance, maintains ships log whilst in port.

Skills William may have needed for his job could have involved; Controlling ships mechanical equipment, watching gauges, or other dials to make sure machinery is working correctly, determining the correct tools needed for certain tasks, assessing the performance of other crew members under his rank to make improvements.

As you can see he would have had a lot of different tasks on board ship, so many that you can only imagine how much hard work it must have been to work under the constant threat and pressure of  u-boat attack.

More Information and stories about William

William was married to Daisy Ethel Fielding, (pictured to the left) they had three daughters together. They where in order of age; Muriel, Olive and Dorothy. Dorothy was only two weeks old when her father was lost at sea.

Sadly none of William's children ever grew up to know their father and from what I have been told, Daisy was unwilling to talk about him, so the stories below may not be 100% accurate, but are know part of my family history.

One happy story that has been passed down to me by one of  William's Sisters daughters, who contacted me via my old site, was a story of him eating snails in the garden as a baby. I'm hoping to again get in contact to try and find out more.