-H.M.S. Hood Crew Information-
H.M.S. Hood Rolls of Honour
Memorials to Men Lost in the sinking
In Remembrance of
Herbert John Baylis
Place of birth: Battersea, London, England
Parents: Alfred Charles and Beatrice Rose Baylis
Wife: Ina Gladys Baylis
Service: Royal Navy
Rank: Ordinary Signalman
Service Number: P/JX 224176
Joined Hood: Unknown
Left Hood: 24th May 1941 (loss of ship)
Click here to print memorial poster
Biographical Information: Herbert was born on 30th November 1916 in Battersea, London to Alfred and Beatrice Baylis, and christened at St Luke's Church, Battersea on 31st December that year. His younger sister, Beatrice, was born in 1924. Herbert married Ina Gladys Wellman in January 1940, not long after his 23rd birthday. Herbert's marriage was tragically short: he was lost in Hood, at the age of 24, only sixteen months after his wedding to Ina.
Following Herbert's death in Hood, Ina entered the Civil Service, and was attached to the deciphering section in the Admiralty War Rooms. After the war, she was reappointed to the Control Commission for Germany. It was in Germany that she met her second husband Allan Preston. They married in 1948 and took up farming. Ina passed away in 2022 at the age of 104, having outlived Herbert Baylis, her first husband, by 81 years.
Additional Photos |
 A youthful Herbert formally photographed in his uniform. |
 Formal portrait of Herbert. |
 Herbert and Ina marry in Battersea, 1940 |
 The official letter notifying Ina of Herbert's death. She kept it until the end of her own life 81 years later. |
Hood Chapel, Church of St. John the Baptist, Boldre, Hampshire, England
Photos of the memorial
Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Southsea, Hampshire, England
Photos of the memorial
The part of the memorial in which the Hood casualty names can be found.
(Panels 45 to 61)
Herbert's name is in Column 1 of Panel 52.
Detail of Herbert's name.
Sources
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
'Register of Deaths of Naval Ratings' (data extracted by Director of Naval Personnel (Disclosure Cell), Navy Command HQ, 2009)
Photos and information from Peter and Sandra Preston, son and daughter of Ina Preston, formerly Ina Baylis, February 2023.
Biographical information from King family tree on Ancestry.co.uk, February 2023