WW1 Casualty: Private 59150 Joseph Fleetwood - Private 59150 Joseph Fleetwood
| Unit/Regiment |
1st (Garrison) Bn., Devonshire Regiment |
| Date of Death |
15/04/1917 |
Age at Death |
36 |
| Burial/Memorial |
Mikra Memorial |
| Census Details |
1901 Census -
Joseph is recorded as living at 44, Houghton Street, Prescot, with his widowed mother Annie, aged 47. Joseph is shown to be a watch maker/case jointer. The 1891 census showed that he had elder sisters Annie and Mary. In the 1881 census, his mother is shown as married but no father is recorded. |
| Birth/Marriage/Death Registrations |
Birth Registered Q2/1880, Prescot, 8b, 727
Marriage to Louisa Simm, Q2/1912, Prescot, 8b, 1317 |
| SDGW - Where Born |
Prescot, Lancs |
| Enlisted |
Birmingham |
| How Died |
Died |
Theatre of War |
EEF |
| Research Ref. No. |
P108 |
Service DetailsJoseph Fleetwood was baptised on 2nd June 1880 at St Mary's Church, Prescot, the son of Joseph (an Engine Winder) and Ann Fleetwood
In 1901, Joseph is recorded as living at 44, Houghton Street, Prescot, with his widowed mother Annie, aged 47. Joseph is shown to be a watch maker/case jointer. The 1891 census showed that he had elder sisters Annie and Mary. In the 1881 census, his mother is shown as married but his father is not included.
By 1911, Joseph had relocated to Handsworth in Staffordshire, where he lived as a boarder with the Holden family. He was still working as a Watch Case maker, suggesting that he had moved from Prescot as the watch industry declined.
However, he appears to have returned to the North West as he married Louisa Simm, a dressmaker of Portico, in 1912
It isn't known exactly when Joseph joined the army, though it appears to have been around the middle of 1916.
Formed in August 1915, the 1st (Garrison) Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment consisted of men who, although unfit for battle, were capable of discharging garrison duties. They served initially in Salonika and then in Egypt and Palestine from 27th September 1915, and on to Palestine in 1917.
Joseph was one of a large number of men who were sailing from Salonika to Egypt on 15th April 1917 aboard the troopship HT Arcadian
On 15 April 1917 Arcadian was en route from Salonika to Alexandria with a company of 1,335 troops and crew and escorted by a Japanese Navy destroyer. Shortly after completing a boat drill, while 26 miles north east of the Greek island of Milos, Arcadian was hit by a single torpedo from the German submarine SM UC-74 and sank within six minutes with the loss of 279 lives. Fortunately the men's recent exercise at the boats imparted steadiness and confidence and 1,058 were rescued, either through their own efforts or by the escorting destroyer.
The number drowned was 277 and, had it not been for the sudden capsizing of the vessel, many more would have been saved. Those lost included 19 army officers and 214 other ranks, as well as ten naval ratings and 34 members of the crew.
22 of those who drowned were with the Devonshires, including Joseph Fleetwood. His body was never recovered and he is commemorated on the Mikra Memorial in Greece.
This is an image from the Imperial War Museum which shows the troopship Arcadian sinking in the Aegean Sea after being torpedoed on 15 April 1917 en route from Salonika to Alexandria
Extract from a London Newspaper in May 1917
Joseph's widow, Louisa, was listed in the Register of Soldiers Effects (above) as his next of kin. She never remarried and died in Widnes in 1970 at the age of 90. She and Joseph did not have any children
Joseph Fleetwood's Medal Index Card
Joseph Fleetwood's inscription on the Mikra Memorial
Joseph's service is commemorated on the Methodist Church Roll of Honour
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