For sale is a long serving Petty Officers medals comprising 1914 – 15 Star impressed named 232122 W.T. WOOLLEY. L.S. R.N.; British War and Victory Medals (1914 – 18) both impressed named 232122 W.T. WOOLLEY. P.O. R.N.; Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (G.V.R.) impressed named 232122 (DEV A.8519) W.T. WOOLLEY. P.O. R.F.R. Court mounted for display they come with copies of service records and medal roll.
Petty Officer William Thomas Woolley was born on 18/5/1887 in Sidmouth, Devon. He was working as an inshore fisherman when he enlisted into the Royal Navy on 21/9/1904 as a Boy 2nd Class.
He served on a variety of H.M. ship and shore bases prior to the Great War and on the outbreak of the war he was serving on HMS Orion (dreadnought) as a Leading Seaman from 4/2/1914 – 1/5/1917.
He was present on her during the Battle of Jutland on 31/5/1916. She was the lead ship of the 2nd Division of the 2nd BS and was the fifth ship from the head of the battle line after deployment. During the first stage of the general engagement, she fired four salvos of armour-piercing, capped shells at the battleship S.M.S. Markgraf scoring one hit that knocked out a 15-centimetre gun and killed or disabled its crew.
She also engaged the battlecruiser SMS Lützow at a range of 18,700–19,800 yards with six salvos of APC shells and claimed to straddle her with the last two salvos. Lützow was also fired at by Monarch during this time and was hit five times between the sisters. They knocked out two of her main guns, temporarily knocked out the power to the sternmost turret as well as causing a fair amount of flooding. During the battle she fired total of fifty-one 13.5-inch APC shells.
He was posted to HMS Vivid 1 (Seamanship, Signalling and Telegraphy School in Devonport) from 2/5/1917 – 3/8/1917. This was followed by HMS Cornwall (armoured cruiser) from 4/8/1917 – 24/1/1919 being promoted to Petty Officer during this time. She was conducting convoy duties from the North America Station.
He retired to a shore pension on 12/5/1927 and the Royal Fleet Reserve.
He was mobilised for the Munich Crisis 28/9/1938 – 2/10/1938.
Recalled for WW2 he served on shore stations and was demobilised on 13/8/1945. He died in 1953 in Honiton, Devon.
