This young man is Boy, 1st Class, John Travers Cornwell, aged 16½. He was a boy scout, and had joined the Navy at the age of 15, without telling his family, his references coming from his headmaster, and from a man for whom he was working as a delivery boy.
Our card says he was “mortally wounded in Battle of Jutland”, this was on the 31st of May 1916, when his ship was attacked by several German Cruisers. At the time he was working on the deck with one of the guns, doing the job of making sure the gun sights were true and the range was accurate. He did this by turning tiny wheels when ordered to by the men in command, just one of the jobs that the “boys” with small fingers were so much better at. His gun received several direct hits and was just a gun, no armour surrounding it, so all the men were immediately downed. John Travers Cornwell was also wounded but propped himself up for fifteen minutes in the hope that a new crew arrived. He died the next day, before his mother could reach the hospital. His Victoria Cross is held by the Imperial War Museum,
You can also find him on Godfrey Phillips "Famous Minors" (card 9/50), where it gives his birth date as 1899 - and on Godfrey Phillips "Famous Boys" (card 5/25), where he is shown loading a shell into the breech, which I am not certain was one of his jobs, and where he is named as Jack Cornwell. It also tells us that he was "buried first in a common grave, he was afterwards reinterred with full naval honours in a private grave in Manor Park Cemetery. Homes for disabled and invalided sailors have been established in his memory.
That common grave was also in Manor Park Cemetery, and he was exhumed on the 29th of July 1916 when he was reburied with full military honours. His father, who died of bronchitis whilst away at war, was also buried in the same grave, on the 31st of October 1916.
Considering the Victoria Cross was only awarded as a great honour, it is chastening to think that eight series of twenty five cards were able to be issued in 1915-1916 alone,. two hundred souls whose bravery was such that it needed to be recorded with the V.C., and, like John Travers Cornwell, most of whom were not alive to receive it, nor even to know it had been awarded. I find it one of the most poignant sets of all.
There is something else which will astound you - for during this research I discovered that J.T. Cornwell was not the youngest recipient of the Victoria Cross, two others being younger.
Andrew Fitzgibbon was born in India on the 13th of May 1845, and won his V.C.for events on the 21st of August 1860 at Taku Forts, aged fifteen years three months, and he survived, until 1883 - he is also hopefully still wearing his V.C., for it was buried on his breast.
Thomas Flynn, or Flinn was born in Athlone in August 1892, and won his V.C.at Cawnpore in India on the 28th of November, when, though he was only on the field as a drummer, he joined in the fighting against the opposition. The problem is that there is no record of the day of his birth, so we do not know whether he is the youngest of all, or not. Sadly he fell on hard times when leaving the forces, and died, in the Athlone Workhouse, in August 1892, being buried in what is called "common ground". There is no record of what happened to his V.C., or where it is today.
As this is a Card of the Day, and the first card to be featured as so from all the other series, this becomes the set`s homepage, to which all the series will link, and from which you can link out to see all the others.
It first appears in our original Gallaher reference book, RB.4, published in 1944. At this time, we did not add reference numbers, which is why the earliest card code is the G12-20 that comes from our original World Tobacco Issues Index. The sets are described as :
1915 (?). 25. THE GREAT WAR - VICTORIA CROSS HEROES (titled series). Size 2 1/2" x 1 1/2" approx. Numbered 1-25. Fronts printed in colour by letterpress from half-tone blocks, blue marginal lines, white margins and titles inset in white panels (head and shoulder studies showing V.Cs). Backs printed in violet with descriptions and "Issued by Gallaher Ltd., Belfast & London."
Cards can be collected with the backs printed in various shades of purple, mauve and violet.
Variety :
Card No.7, Capt. Dimmer Card No.7, Brig-Gen DimmerTHE GREAT WAR - VICTORIA CROSS HEROES (titled series "2nd Series of 25") Numbered 26-50. Other details as above, but different subjects.
THE GREAT WAR - VICTORIA CROSS HEROES (titled series "3rd Series of 25") Numbered 51-75. Other details as above, but different subjects.
THE GREAT WAR - VICTORIA CROSS HEROES (titled series "4th Series of 25") Numbered 76-100. Other details as above, but different subjects.
THE GREAT WAR - VICTORIA CROSS HEROES (titled series "5th Series of 25") Numbered 101-125. Other details as above, but different subjects.
THE GREAT WAR - VICTORIA CROSS HEROES (titled series "6th Series of 25") Numbered 126-150. Other details as above, but different subjects.
THE GREAT WAR - VICTORIA CROSS HEROES (titled series "7th Series of 25") Numbered 151-175. Other details as above, but different subjects.
THE GREAT WAR - VICTORIA CROSS HEROES (titled series "8th Series of 25") Numbered 176-200. Other details as above, but different subjects.
The shade of "violet" ink varies considerably between the series,
This has, understandably, been much shortened in our original World Tobacco Issues Index, to just :
THE GREAT WAR - VICTORIA CROSS HEROES. Sm. See X1/Ha.492.A ... G12-20
1. "1st Series". Nd. 1/25 (25)
2. "2nd Series". Nd. 26/50 (25)
3. "3rd Series". Nd. 51/75 (25)
4. "4th Series". Nd. 76/100 (25)
5. "5th Series". Nd. 101/125 (25)
6, "6th Series". Nd. 126/150 (25)
7. "7th Series". Nd. 151/175 (25)
8, "8th Series". Nd. 176/200 (25)
The reference to X1/Ha.492.A, however, which is in the accompanying handbook, is very important, as it reads :
THE GREAT WAR - VICTORIA CROSS HEROES. Front in colour. Numbered series.
A. Gallaher. 1st to 8th Series. Nd 1/200
B. Machado. 1st Series. Nd 1/50. Back illustrated at Fig,X1/Ha.492.3
Time for a little chat about B. and J.B. Machado, whose company was allied to British American Tobacco. They were actually brothers, Benito and Juan, and they were Cuban, presumably from the area of Santiago-de-Cuba. They left their homeland in a time of conflict, and set up in Jamaica. Now Jamaica was not really a tobacco country, so they had their pick of the land, and also lots of people to introduce to the habit.
One of the places they chose for the growing was Temple Hall, which proves that they knew their stuff, for tobacco was one of the crops grown on that very land by Sir Nicholas Lawes, the Governor of Jamaica from 1718 until 1722, and the husband of the daughter of the original owner Thomas Temple. This is just nine miles from Kingston. Whilst the other site they chose was at Colbeck, about twenty-six miles from Kingston, which was soon to become home to many other refugees of the war that had driven our brothers away. The reason why we are speaking of Kingston is on the cards, for these give an address, of " "La Tropical" Cigarette Factory, Kingston, Jamaica, B.W.I." That was opened in 1875, at No.9, Harbour Street, which was perfect for exporting purposes, (right until the 1950s, the Machado brand was one of the best sellers in England). It also seems that all of their workers were Cuban, presumably refugees. .
The Machado cards have different backs, and are printed in olive green. I will insert one in here asap, but it will not be the same as our card as far as the number. There is much debate as to the Machado set and we welcome input from researchers - especially as to whether the numbering is the same, for the Gallaher set was only of twenty-five cards. We also have no idea of why they issued the set (in 1916), nor why they stopped after the first fifty. There is a really well researched piece about Machado online at flickr as part of the National Library of Jamaica, but it does not answer our cartophilic curiosity.