Henry Hanson Ford
Place of birth: Sheffield, Yorkshire
Previous occupation: Wagon builder
Service: Royal Navy
Rank: Able Seaman
Service Number: J31154
Joined Hood: 28th August 1926
Left Hood: 27th August 1928
Biographical Information: Henry Hanson Ford joined the Royal Navy as a Boy Second Class on 24 May 1914, not long before the start of World War I, at the age of 16. Initially, he seems to have been a Portsmouth rating, but he subsequently changed to Devonport. Henry served in Hood for exactly two years from 1926 to 1928 as an Able Seaman - at that time, Hood was a Devonport-based ship.
Henry continued to serve in successive drafts ashore and afloat, before being discharged to pension as a Leading Seaman at the end of hie engagement on 9 December 1937, the day before his 40th birthday.
But the approach of World War 2 saw Henry recalled to the colours, and he remained in the RN right through that war. Although he mostly served in shore billets, he did serve in the aircraft carrier Courageous in 1939, making him one of the relatively small number of ratings to serve afloat in both world wars.
Additional Photos |
Henry Hanson Ford with his wife Gertrude and their son Norman, who also went on to have a fine career in the Royal Navy |
No known memorials
Sources
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
'Register of Deaths of Naval Ratings' (data extracted by Director of Naval Personnel (Disclosure Cell), Navy Command HQ, 2009)