Torpedoed On Board HMS Majestic.

British War Medal 1914 - 20.
Edward VII Naval Long Service & Good Conduct Medal.
PLY-4902 Pte. G. H. Haydon, R.M.L.I.

George Henry Haydon was born on 29th May 1871 in Alphington, near Exeter, and is recorded on the 1881 Census as a 9 year old scholar, the second son of Samuel Haydon, a labourer in an iron foundry, and his wife Lucy. George enlisted in the Royal Marines on 29th June 1889. His Service Papers give his occupation as "labourer" and describe him as having a fair complexion, light brown hair, blue eyes and a tattoo of an anchor on his arm. After initial training at the Recruit Depot, George was allocated to the Plymouth Division of the Royal Marines and passed a course in first aid to the injured in June 1890. He served on HMS Indus and later on HMS Belleisle, the coastguard ship at Kingstown, Ireland. George Haydon is listed as a member of this ship's crew on the 1891 Census.

George's career continued with him successfully passing his musketry and sea gunnery drills every three years and with periods of service on HMS Edgar, HMS Defiance (1899 - 1902), the newly-commissioned HMS Swiftsure (1904 - 1905) and HMS Talbot (1907 - 1910). You can read more about Swiftsure and Talbot here. On 13th March 1910, having completed 21 years service, he received his Long Service & Good Conduct Medal. The following June, he transferred to the Royal Fleet Reserve.

Recalled on the outbreak of the First World War, George Haydon, now aged 43, joined the crew of HMS Majestic on 24th August 1914. Assigned to the Channel Fleet, Majestic covered the passage of British troops to France in September 1914. The following month she helped escort the first Canadian troop convoy to Europe. In 1915, HMS Majestic was involved in the Dardanelles campaign and saw much action; firstly while bombarding Turkish positions in the initial attempt to force the Narrows by naval power alone and later while supporting the allied troop landings on the Gallipoli peninsular. On 27th May 1915, three months after arriving in the Dardanelles, HMS Majestic was sunk by a single torpedo from the German submarine U-21, commanded by Commander Otto Hersing. The ship capsized in just nine minutes but fortunately fewer than 50 of the crew lost their lives. George Haydon survived the sinking of the Majestic but his Long Service Medal was lost when the ship went down. An interesting note on his Service Papers states that this medal was "replaced at public expense - original lost in HMS Majestic". There is more information about HMS Majestic together with many photos of the ship and the wreck here and here.

George Haydon served for the rest of the war on HMS Egmont, and was discharged from the Royal Fleet Reserve as medically unfit for further service on 11th September 1920.