BOYS SERVICE, RN

[j.sabourn]

Re. The surname Chandler think I have mentioned before somewhere but my paternal Grandmothers pre marital name was Chandler and think or so the story went her Father or someone else in family was master on a Windjammer. As they were nearly all large familys in those days, the brood would have spread far and wide. I suppose Chandler is a fairly common surname and as far as I know were all brought up in the Blyth area of NE England. Your story very interesting though and shows you never judge a person by his looks, and first impressions are seldom correct. Or in the correct terminology never judge a book by its cover. Cheers JS

[j.sabourn]

In addition to that old post #10 of 2012 I found out after that posting that the same character was on the short list to represent England at one of the earlier Olympic Games after the war. That was when true athletes were proud to compete and were all amateur status. Due to illness however he had to drop out at the last minute, was a well known person among his own peers. JS

[Errol Chandler]

Thank you.
I have my fathers service record No. L.1894 showing that he enrolled in the Boys Service on 18 May 1910, aged 17.

What his punishment was, I have no idea.

THe mystery has deepened as I now have documentary prof that he was working at the British Embassy, Petrograd in 1917, in fact a document pins down a date as 6 Decedmber 1917. The research had been pointing to some sort of clandestine government work due to his fluency in Russian, now he seems to have been with MI6 in 1917.