From Boy To Chief Petty Officer.

Africa General Service Medal with clasp "Somaliland 1902 - 04". HMS Hyacinth.
202698 T. H. Cross, Able Seaman, Royal Navy.

Thomas Henry Cross was born on 24th August 1883 at Plymouth. He was taken into the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class on 20th January 1899 and spent the initial part of his career on HMS Ganges, a training establishment for boys, where he was advanced to Boy 1st Class eight months later. From August 1900 till February 1902, he served aboard HMS Camperdown, an Admiral-class battleship, and it was here that Thomas was rated Seaman and later Able Seaman, subsequently being given the sub-ratings of Trained Man followed by Qualified Gunner in 1902. In March 1903, during a spell at HMS Defiance, the Royal Navy Torpedo School, Thomas qualified as a Leading Torpedo Man. You can see photos of this establishment here.

In April 1903, he joined the crew of HMS Hyacinth, a Highflyer-class cruiser that had been launched in 1898 and one of the ships that took part in the Somaliland Campaign of 1902-04. It was here that Thomas earned his entitlement to the Africa General Service Medal. He stayed with Hyacinth until April 1906, being rated Leading Seaman in December 1905. In the years leading up to the First World War, Thomas served on a number of ships, including HMS Sutlej, HMS Donegal and HMS Prometheus, alternating with periods at HMS Defiance; he had been promoted to Petty Officer 2nd Class in 1907, passed professionally for Petty Officer in 1909 and qualified as a Torpedo Gunner's Mate in August 1910.

On the outbreak of war, Thomas Cross joined HMS Albion, a Canopus-class pre-dreadnought battleship that spent some months on the Cape and East Africa Station before being sent to the Dardanelles in 1915. Albion took part in the bombardment of the Turkish positons on March 18th in the attempt to force the Narrows by naval power alone; the endeavour failed and resulted in the loss of HMS Irresistible, HMS Ocean and the French battleship Bouvet. On 25th April, British and Australian troops landed on the Gallipoli peninsular. HMS Albion was badly damaged while supporting the landings and suffered further damage on May 24th when, having become stuck on a sandbank off Gaba Tepe, she became a target for Turkish artillery. Hit over 100 times but fortunately sustaining few casualties, the ship was towed free only after reducing weight and using the recoil effect of firing her main guns simultaneously.

HMS Albion returned to England in 1916 and was scrapped three years later. Thomas Cross later served on HMS Contest and HMS Valorous. He was promoted to Chief Petty Officer and stayed in the Navy until August 1923, when he transferred to the Royal Fleet Reserve.