Jutland Jack - faithful unto death!

The Battle of Jutland was fought in the North Sea off the coast of Denmark from 31 May to 1 June 1916. It was the largest naval battle of World War I.
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Some 250 ships were involved in the fierce 36-hour battle. The British navy lost 14 ships and more than 6000 lives. The German navy lost 9 ships and more than 2500 lives.

Jack Cornwell was a 16-year-old Boy Seaman First Class on HMS Chester. His job was to help man the guns and keep the deck clear. HMS Chester was hit and badly damaged very early in the battle. A direct hit on the forecastle killed or wounded every member of Jack’s gun crew. Although he, too, had been seriously wounded Jack stood fast at his gun. He did not desert his post and took orders from the officer on the bridge to set the gun’s sights. When Jack was found he was barely alive and died two days later. Jack’s mother took his body home to Essex where he was buried in a communal grave because his family were poor.

Captain Robert Lawson of HMS Chester wrote to Jack’s mother a few months after he died. He wrote, “I know you would wish to hear of the splendid fortitude and courage shown by your boy during the action of May 31. His devotion to duty was an example for all of us. He stayed, standing and waiting, under heavy fire, just his own brave heart and God’s help to support him. I cannot express to you my admiration of the son you have lost from this world. I hope to place in the boys’ mess a plate with his name on and the date, and the words, ‘Faithful unto death’.” Later Jack was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, the youngest person to receive it in World War I. His body was reinterred, with full naval honours, in a private grave in Manor Park Cemetery. Homes for disabled and invalided sailors were established in his memory.

Two thousand years ago a young man, who was just 33 years old, died on a cross outside the city of Jerusalem. Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, was “faithful unto death” when he died as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. His death for our sins, and triumphant resurrection on the third day, offer us all certain hope in the face of the tragedies and sadnesses we may experience in this life.

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