OWEN LAWRENCE GAGE
Born: 17th August 1895, Chelmondiston, Suffolk.
Died: 13th June 1940; age: 44; Died as a result of wounds due to enemy action – Saint-Valery-en-Caux.
Residence: 46, Nightingale Road, Ipswich.
Enlistment Details: Owen gave his date of birth us: 7th August 1893. Location: Chatham; Occupation: Labourer. Height: 5ft 3ins, fair complexion, grey eyes & fair hair.
Service:
Ganges – Boy Servant – 7th January 1910.
Ganges – Boy Servant 3rd Class – 7th August 1911 – 17th October 1913.
Rank: Able Seaman.
Regiment: Merchant Navy, S.S. ‘Train Ferry No. 2’ (London). 145207.
Memorial Reference:
Panel 109.
London.
Relatives Notified & Address: Son of George & Mary Rands; husband of Beatrice M. Gage, of Ipswich.
Father: George Gage had died before the birth of his son, Owen. George Gae was a bus conductor.
Mother: Marian Alice Rands (nee Bullock (1st marriage Gage)), born 1868, Harkstead, Suffolk.
Stepfather: George Robert Rands, 1876, born Shotley, Suffolk – died 1929, Ipswich.
CENSUS
1901 Ash Tree Cottage, Chelmondiston, Suffolk.
Owen was 5 years old and living with his maternal grandparents & cousin.
Samuel Bullock, 70, a Shepherd on a Farm, born Wenhaston, Suffolk.
Ellen Bullock, 71, born Rumburgh, Suffolk.
Lily Foreman, 12, born Harkstead, Suffolk.
1911 His Majesty’s Royal Naval Training Establishment, Shotley, Suffolk.
Owen was 17 years old, a Boy Servant on the training ship H.M.S. ‘Ganges.’
1921 The Street, Chwlmondiston, Suffolk.
Owen Gage was 25 years old and 10 months old, and a Sailor-Mate on a Barge for R. & W. Paul, of Ipswich. He lived with his mother, stepfather, and stepsiblings.
George Rands, 46 years old, a Roadman – Main Roads for East Suffolk County Council.
Marian Rands, 53 years & 6 months old, Home Duties.
David Rands, 13 years & 7 months old, at School, born Shotley.
Arnold Rands, 11 years & 11 months old, at School, born Shotley.
Hazel Rands, 8 years & 10 months old, at School, born Shotley.
1 boarder.
In 1931, Samford, Suffolk, Owen married Beatrice Atkinson.
Owen’s stepbrother, Marshall Henry Rands, died at the General Borough Hospital, Ipswich, as a result of the Second World War, on the 9th July 1947, aged 40 years. A Mate on S.S. ‘Lady Jean.’ Marshall was laid to rest at Ipswich Cemetery.
13th June 1940
S.S. ‘Train Ferry No. 2,’ a 2,678 grt ferry, was built for the British Army by Armstrong W.G. & Whitworth Co. Ltd., Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, in the Lowe Walker yard. Launched on the 12th September 1917. S.S. ‘Train Ferry No. 2’ and her sister ships – No. 1 and No. 3 were the first vessels to offer regular transport between the U.K. and Europe for rail freight vehicles and could also be used for road transport. They were designed to help alleviate the congestion, inefficiencies, and delays brought about by the bottleneck system at the Channel ports during World War One. S.S. ‘Train Ferry No. 2 was requisitioned by the Royal Navy in September 1939 for the transportation of military traffic to and from Calais. In June 1940, she helped in the evacuation of troops from the small fishing port at Saint-Valery-en-Caux, Haute-Normandie, France. On the 13th June 1940, S.S. ‘Train Ferry No. 2’ was damaged by German shore gun batteries, she was beached and abandoned off Saint-Valery-en-Caux. 14 crew members lost.
Leave a Reply