George Montford Drew was born 21 January 1893 at Oswestry. His father, Charles Drew had come from London and moved to Oswestry circa 1880 with his then wife. Charlotte and 2 daughters, Ida and Ethel. Charles was the owner of the Wynnstay Hotel, Church Street, Oswestry, he also ran a a wine and spirit merchants and a mineral water company with premises on King Street. Charlotte died in 1883 and in April 1890 Charles re married to Jean Montford at Liverpool. They would have 3 children, George and younger sister and brother, Edith and Harold. By 1900 the family were living at ‘Plas Wilmot’ on Weston Lane, Oswestry and the childhood home of Wilfred Owen the WW1 poet and another Oswestrian casualty of the war. The Owens had to sell the house in 1897 when the family hit harder times; the ‘Drews’ seem to have been the new owners. The Drews had a house servant and cook and, for the children, a French governess – Susanna Duprins.

In 1906 Charles continued his education at HMS Conway, the merchant navy training ship berthed at Liverpool, training to be a merchant navy officer. He graduated in 1908 and then went to sea as a Midshipman. He served on immigrant ships to North America as well as on tankers. He progressed through the ranks gaining his Second First Mate Certificate in May 1912, First Mate in May 1914 and his Masters Certificate in May 1916. Two months later in July, he was commissioned as Sub Lieutenant, Royal Navy. He served at first on HMS Hilary, an armed merchant/supply ship. In June 1917 he moved to HMS Maidstone, a submarine supply ship and assigned to the submarine service. He served on HM Submarine V2 and then in September 1917 on HM Submarine E 14 as navigator.

In January 1918 HM Submarine E14 was ordered to go in pursuit of the Turkish battleship ‘Goeben’ which was reported to have run aground in the Dardanelles straits. The submarine negotiated passage of the straits successfully avoiding submarine nets and Turkish patrols. However, when they arrived at their destination they discovered the Goeben had gone. On the return journey they attacked a merchant ship, a target of opportunity. During the attack an explosion detonated, either the submarine hit a mine or the torpedo had exploded prematurely. The submarine was forced to surface and was then bombarded by shore batteries. Lieutenant Drew was on the bridge when the conning tower was hit. His body went overboard and was not recovered. For his part in the action Charles was mentioned in dispatches, the submarine commander, Lieutenant Commander White (CWGC)was awarded the Victoria Cross for his part. George is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial. He is also commemorated on the roll of honour for HMS Conway. He was also a free mason at  St Oswald’s Lodge and is on the Masonic Roll of Honour. He was a recipient of the Navy Medal.

George’s brother, Harold, followed him into the merchant navy, also via HMS Conway, and then in the Royal Navy. He survived the war and remained in the RN rising to rank of Admiral. Harold had the distinction of being the only RN Officer during WW2 to scuttle his ship, HMS Manchester, in May 1941 – HMS Manchester was an escort ship on a convoy to relieve Malta, when she was attacked and so badly damaged and depleted she was useless as a fighting ship. Rather than be totally destroyed the Commanding Officer, Captain Harold Drew, in order to spare useless loss of life and prevent the ship falling into enemy hands, scuttled the ship. The crew were interned in Vichy France, North Africa and were later released. Harold Drew was court martialed, a requirement when a ship was so lost. He was found guilty – perhaps more as a formality, it did not greatly adversely effect his naval career and by his retirement was Admiral and officiating Commander-in-Chief, Indian Navy.

Acknowledgements.

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