Willie Alfred Troke – My Antecedents

(First cousin twice removed of the author)

William Alfred Troke, son of William Troke (1858-1931) and Emma Corbin (1859-1906), was born on 10 November 1899 in Wallisdown, Dorset, England and baptised on 14 January 1900.

Prior to joining the Royal Navy on 21 November 1917 just a few days after celebrating his 18^th birthday Willie had been working as a coal carter for his father William, a coal dealer in Wallisdown. He was described as having brown hair, brown eyes, a fresh complexion, a 40 inch chest and being 5 feet 8 inches tall. His military ID was K47289. From 21 November 1917 to 17 March 1918 Willie was based at HMS Victory II. HMS Victory II was a shore-base in Crystal Palace/Sydenham used as a training depot for Royal Navy stokers.

Willie Troke. Photo courtesy of Derek Cave shared through the Maritime Archaeology Trust’s HLF Forgotten Wrecks of the First World War project

The Stokehole HM Trawler Mackenzie by Francis Dodd, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. The Mackenzie was a hired trawler used as a minesweeper.

On 18 March Willie was posted to HMS Magpie (New Dawn). The New Dawn was a 93grt steam powered drifter built by Mackie and Thompson Ltd in Glasgow 1908. New Dawn was a tender to HMS Magpie and was used as a minesweeper. There is no known picture of the vessel but the following picture of the Admire, another drifter built by Mackie and Thompson in 1908, shows what she would have looked like.

The Admire a 93grt drifter built by Mackie and Thompson in 1908. Picture from Electric Scotland

Drifters were fishing vessels used to catch herring in long drift nets. They were hired by The Royal Navy and adapted to sweep for mines. The IWM film ‘A DAY ON A MINE-SWEEPER [Main Title] | Imperial War Museums (iwm.org.uk)‘, shot in 1918, shows the activities of drifters and paddle-minesweepers.

Spithead in Wartime by William Lionel Wyllie. Painted sometime after 27th Feb 1918. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. The ship on the left has not been identified but it has been suggested that it may be New Dawn.

On 23 March 1918, just 5 days after his posting to HMS Magpie, Willie was killed when New Dawn struck two mines off of the Isle of Wight and sank. More details on the loss can be found in the site report for New Dawn by the Forgotten Wrecks of the First World War Project.

Willie’s body was not recovered. He is commemorated at the Portsmouth Naval Memorial (panel 30). His name is also on the War Memorial at St Mark’s Church, Talbot Village.