Brave Newfoundland Naval Reservist go down on the Laurentic, January 25, 1917.
Attention fellow countrymen,
Please hark to what I say,
And hear about the sad, sad loss
That we record to-day,
How sixteen sons of Newfoundland
Their precious lives did give,
In honor of the dear old flag,
That you and I may live.
The names of these brave heroes,
A sailor’s grave to fill:
The first J. J. Benoit
Belonging to Stephenville,
George Brinton hails from Port-au-Bras,
And Leslie Bringston too,
Erastus Cumby and Ephraim Freake
That formed the steamer’s crew.
Laurence Murphy, Eldred Gosse,
William Puddicombe and Luke Smith,
Simeon Rodgers and Fred Randell,
That nobly did their bit.
John Tucker and brave Wallace Young,
Like heroes they did brave,
And likewise Samuel Hooper.
Who fills a sailor’s grave.
The name of Alexander Ayles,
We must record to-day,
A gallant son of Newfoundland,
From Bonavista Bay.
And likewise Leslie Walters
Upon the list is seen,
Another of our boys in blue,
Belonging to Lamaline.
These daring sons of Newfoundland,
Who died upon the sea
To save the good old Union Jack,
That England should be free.
To save that flag they gave their lives,
These sixteen heroes brave,
That went down in the Laurentic,
And met a watery grave.
Well done brave Terra Nova’s sons,
The plucky boys in blue,
Ye proved that ye were heroes,
And well your parts did do.
We hope you’ll see a brighter land,
From sorrow and from care,
In that bright land above the skies,
Its splendour for to share.
Note: It was first reported that 16 seamen of the Newfoundland RNR died on the Laurentic but it was later verified that 20 Newfoundland Reservists had drowned or perished.
Southwest Arm Seamen lost on HMS Laurentic, January 25, 1917
Eldred Gosse, son of Robert and Sarah Ann (Vey) Gosse, Long Beach, Random; wife Elizabeth Jane (Butt) Gosse, Queen’s Cove.
Luke Smith, son of Joseph and Mary Martha (Spurrell) Smith of Gooseberry Cove; wife Isabella (Spurrell) Smith, Butter Cove, Random, Trinity Bay
Southwest Arm Reservists who lived through the ordeal:
J Green, St Jones Without
A Avery, Long Beach