On the 1st April 1918 Frederick Charles Bush, my first cousin three times removed was serving in the Royal navy. He had enlisted in 1915 aged 18 and had been serving on a trawler HMT Wallington protecting the approaches to the Humber estuary until July 1917. After a period of training at the shore depot Pembroke II and a short month-long deployment back on board Waveney St. George, Frederick was posted to HMS Latona.
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| HMS Latona |
HMS Latona was an Apollo class second class Cruiser and was one of 21 cruisers of the class. Considered to be poor sea going ships and in poor sea conditions their fighting capability would be decreased severely with the waist guns not being able to cope with the conditions to be used successfully. sometime between 1907 HMS Latona along with her sister ships HMS Apollo, HMS Intrepid, HMS Iphigenia, HMS Andromache, HMS Naiad and HMS Thetis were converted to minelayers. During the initial years of the war Latona operated from Dover and Sheerness but in 1915 became a depot ship in the Mediterranean.
The 1st April 1918 also saw the birth of the Royal Air Force, with headquarters located in the former Hotel Cecil, by the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). As part of this new service, both William J Wraight (Grand Uncle) and Maurice Edwin Bush (1st Cousin 3 times removed) were transferred from the RNAS to the newly formed Royal Air Force.
William Wraight had been serving as an Aviation Carpenters Mate, and Maurice Bush as a Air Mechanic, both were transferred to the same roles the newly formed Royal Air Force.
William’s older brother Solomon had recently joined the United States Army
