WILLIAM GEORGE SWEETMAN
From May through to September 2026, Andrew will be fulfilling his dream to hike the iconic Land’s End to John O’Groats! You are all warmly invited to follow Andrew’s epic journey on his Facebook page, “Andrew Beal LEJOG” https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61577588795730
As Andrew hikes the 1,300+ miles, he will raise funds for the Ipswich War Memorial Project to help finance our future exhibitions and research of the brave Ipswich men and women who lost their lives in conflict. If you would like to make a small donation, please click on the link: https://gofund.me/5d4a50570
Thank you for your love and support. Andrew & Helen – I.W.M.P.
Born: 15th May 1901, Ipswich.
Died: 15th September 1940; age: 39; MPK.
Residence: 490, Wherstead Road, Ipswich.
Enlistment Location: Portsmouth. Height in 1919: 5ft 4 1/2ins, fresh complexion, blue eyes and light brown hair. Height in 1922: 5ft 6ins. On the 1st May 1919 – signed up for 12 years.
Service:
Revenge – Acting Stoker 1st Class – 5th July 1919
Revenge – Stoker 1st Class – 1st May 1920 – 30th September 1920
Victory – Stoker 1st Class – 1st October 1920 – 5th January 1921
Crocus – Stoker 1st Class – 6th January 1921 – 27th December 1922
Transferred on the 28th December 1922 to Continuous Service – Vide – K60683.
Crocus – Stoker 1st Class – 28th December 1922 – 12th March 1923
Birmingham – Stoker 1st Class – 13th March 1923 – 4th May 1923
Victory II – Stoker 1st Class – 5th May 1923 – 7th April 1924
Weymouth – Stoker 1st Class – 8th April 1924 – 23rd April 1924
Dublin – Stoker 1st Class – 24th May 1924 – 24th May 1925
Lowestoft – Stoker 1st Class – 25th May 1925 – 23rd November 1926
Victory II – Stoker 1st Class – 24th November 1926 – 13th February 1927
Crocus – Stoker 1st Class – 14th February 1927 – 15th January 1929
Crocus – Acting Leading Stoker – 16th January 1929
Victory – Acting Leading Stoker – 22nd Janaury 1929
Fisgard – Acting Leading Stoker – 4th January 1930
Fisgard – Leading Stoker – 3rd April 1930
Victory – Leading Stoker – 6th May 1930
Folkestone – Leading Stoker – 1st July 1930
Fowey – Leading Stoker -1st November 1931
Fowey – Leading Stoker – 16th January 1932
Victory II – Leading Stoker – 16th July 1932
Dryad – Alresford – Leading Stoker -11th October 1932
Curacoa – Leading Stoker – 21st February 1933
Peterel – Leading Stoker – 12th May 1933
Peterel – Acting Stoker Petty Officer -31st October 1933
Peterel – Stoker Petty Officer – 31st October 1934
Dauntless – Stoker Petty Officer – 23rd May 1936
Victory II – Stoker Petty Officer – 11th August 1936
Victory II – Stoker Petty Officer – 31st October 1936
Boscawon – Doon – Stoker Petty Officer – 16th December 1936
Victory II – Stoker Petty Officer – 7th September 1937
Dundee – Stoker Petty Officer – 5th July 1938
Dundee – Stoker Petty Officer – 31st October 1939 – 15th September 1940.
Rank: Stoker Petty Officer; Service Number: P/K 60683.
Regiment: Royal Navy, H.M.S. ‘Dundee.’
Memorial Reference:
Panel 41, Column 3.
Portsmouth,
Hampshire.
Relatives Notified & Address: Son of O. H. M. & Alice Sweetman, of Ipswich.
Father: Oliver Henry Markham Sweetman, born 1872, Ipswich. A Joiner.
Mother: Alice Sweetman (nee Gardiner), born 1875, Ipswich – died 1905, Ipswich.
CENSUS
1911 St. John’s Home for Boys & Girls, Bloomfield Street, Ipswich.
William was 10 years old, an Inmate at the Workhouse School.
His sister was also an inmate – Alice Violet Sweetman, 12, born Ipswich,
His brother was also an inmate – Harry Sweetman, 7, born Ipswich.
1921 Kharg Island, Persian Gulf.
William was 20 years and 1 month old. He was ranked a Stoker 1st Class for the Royal Navy, H.M.S. Crocus.
After the death of their mother, Alice Sweetman, William and his siblings were first sent to the children’s workhouse. Until their father’s spinster paternal cousins, Sarah and Frances Last, took into their care William and all his siblings at their family home, at 91, Wherstead Road, Ipswich.
Probate to Oliver Henry Markham Sweetman – father, a retired joiner.
St John’s Children’s Home
A separate home for pauper children was first proposed by Ipswich Union in around 1870. This was an unusual step for non-metropolitan unions at this time, and may have been the result of space shortage at the Great Whip Street workhouse. Plans were produced in 1871 and 1873 for a long building with a central block flanked by separate wings containing boys’ and girls’ accommodation. The building, eventually erected at Bloomfield Street in 1879, accommodated 80 boys and 50 girls. The boys were taught to work on the land, and in tailoring and shoe-making. The girls were taught needlework and other household skills to equip them for domestic service. A small infirmary was later added.
15th September 1940 – H.M.S. ‘DUNDEE’
H.M.S. ‘Dundee’ was a British Sloop built at Chatham Dockyard for the Admiralty and launched in 1932. H.M.S. ‘Dundee’ commanded by Captain O.M.F. Stokes RN, was the only escort for convoy SC3 during the Battle of the Atlantic. She was sunk at 00.25hrs off Northern Ireland by the most successful German submarine of the war, U-48, commanded at the time by Kapitanleutnant Henrich Bleichrodt.
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