John Cornwell

John Travers Cornwell, V.C., (8 January 1900 - 2 June 1916) usually known as Jack Cornwell, is remembered for his gallantry at the Battle of Jutland for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. He is also known as Boy Cornwell.

John "Jack" Travers Cornwell was born as a third child into a working-class family in East Ham, London. His parents were Eli and Alice Cornwell. He joined the Boy Scouts but left school at the age of 14. At the outbreak of the First World War, ex-soldier Eli Cornwell volunteered for Royal Defence Corps and was fighting in France under Lord Kitchener. The older brother Arthur also served in an infantry regiment in Flanders.

In the October 1915 Jack Cornwell gave up his job as a delivery boy and enlisted into the Royal Navy, without his father's permission. He had references from his headmaster and employer. He carried out his basic training at Keynham Naval Barracks at Plymouth and received further training as a Sight Setter or Gun Layer and became Boy Seaman First Class. On the Easter Monday of 1916, Cornwell left for Rosyth, Scotland to join his assignment in the navy. He was assigned to HMS Chester.

On May 31 1916, Chester was in the front lines at the Battle of Jutland and came under fire from four Kaiserliche Marine cruisers. The gun turret where young Jack Cornwell was stationed received four hits. Although severely wounded he remained at his post until Chester retired from the action with only one working turret. After the battle, ship's crew found him as a sole survivor, shards of steel penetrating his chest but still alive, looking at the gun sights and still waiting for orders.

Being incapable of further action, Chester was ordered to the port of Immingham. There Cornwell was transferred to Grimsby General Hospital, although he was clearly dying. According to Admiralty Surgeon, Dr. C. S. Stephenson, Cornwell took the news of his death very calmly. He died June 2 1916 before his mother could arrive at the hospital. His family had him buried in nearby Scartho Road Cemetery.

Three months later, captain Robert Lawson of Chester described the events to the British Admiralty. Though at first reluctant, the Admiralty eventually decided to recommend Cornwell for a posthumous Victoria Cross and King George V endorsed it. The recommendation for citation from his Commanding Officer, Admiral Beatty, reads: "the instance of devotion to duty by Boy (1st Class) John Travers Cornwell who was mortally wounded early in the action, but nevertheless remained standing alone at a most exposed post, quietly awaiting orders till the end of the action, with the gun's crew dead and wounded around him. He was under 16½ years old. I regret that he has since died, but I recommend his case for special recognition in justice to his memory and as an acknowledgement of the high example set by him."

Cornwell's body was exhumed July 29 1916 and taken to London to be reburied in Manor Park Cemetery with full military honours. His father was buried in the same spot a month later. The epitaph to Jack Cornwell on his grave monument reads,

On November 16 1916, Cornwell's mother received the Victoria Cross from King George V at Buckingham Palace. Court painter Frank Salisbury made a portrait of Cornwell, using his brother Ernest as a model, depicting him standing in his post. Boy Cornwell Memorial Fund was also established.

After that, the rest of the family was effectively forgotten. Eli Cornwell had died October 26 1916. Arthur Cornwell was killed in action in France in August 1918. Impoverished Alice Cornwell died at Stepney at the family home on October 31 1919 at the age of 54. Many of the other siblings emigrated to Canada. Jack Cornwell's elder half-sister, also named Alice, loaned Jack's Victoria Cross to the Imperial War Museum on November 27 1968.

Sir Robert Baden-Powell created a Cornwell Medal. The Cornwell Decoration, struck in his honour, is awarded by Scouting organizations throughout the Commonwealth. It is awarded to youth members for fortitude in the face of severe adversity.

A Jack Cornwell Street was named in his honour in East Ham (London E12). Mount Cornwell in the Kananaskis Range of the Canadian Rockies was named in his honour in 1918.

Jack Cornwell is also remembered by Sea Cadets for whom he has set the example of seamanship and duty.

External Links

• http://www.seacadets.co.uk/vc/cornwell.htm
• John Travers Cornwell (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWcornwell.htm) (biography)
• Location of grave and VC medal (http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/stewart/loneast.htm) (E. London)
• A history of Cornwell writing from the Scouting perspective containing much original material. (http://www.scouting.milestones.btinternet.co.uk/cornwell.htm)