Villiers Russell Twins

The memorial is near the entrance.
Municipal Buildings
Earle Street
Crewe
Crewe And Nantwich
Cheshire
CW1 2BJ
England

OS Grid Ref: SJ 70671 55787
Denomination: Undefined

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Description

Wooden board. Above the inscription is the naval emblem of HMS Formidable. Below the inscription are naval emblems on either side of a ship.

Inscription

CREWE'S PART OF NAVAL HISTORY/ HMS FORMIDABLE/ TRIBUTE TO/ THE RUSSELL TWINS BY THE R.N.A. CREWE On the 14th June 1924, the War Memorial in Crewe Town Square was/ unveiled by the President of the British Legion - General Sir Ian Hamilton. On/ the Memorial's bronze tablets can be found the names of twin brothers,/ John & Henri Villiers Russell./ The Russell twins were both employed in Crewe Locomotive Works in the/ Joiners Shop. Although John, a talented artist received offers of work/ elsewhere in the artistic field, he refused to leave Crewe where he and his/ twin brother, inseparable since birth, supported their widowed mother./ Prominent in Primitive Methodist circles, they jointly ran the Sunday School/ at Henry Street Chapel and in addition were members of the St. John/ Ambulance Brigade and the Royal Navy Sick Berth Reserve. During the/ Works annual holiday in 1914 the twins, together with two other colleagues/ joined "HMS Formidable" as sick berth attendants for training purposes. A/ few days later, war was declared and none of the four ever returned home/ again./ On New Years Day 1915, "HMS Formidable" was sunk in the English Channel,/ torpedoed by a German submarine and all four men from Crewe were lost./ One day later the twins' bodies were washed up at Lyme Regis, Dorset. As/ in life, they were not separated by death and were found locked in each/ others arms./ Local grief was so deep that it spread to the National Newspapers and later/ the issue of brothers serving on the same Naval Vessell was debated in the/ Houses of Parliament./ Naval law was amended (...) Admiralty directive issued that henceforth/ no brothers should be (...) aboard the same Royal Navy Vessel/ unless they applied (...)./ Contemporary reports (...) coverage of the sinking of "HMS/ Formidable" and the return of the twins' bodies for interment in St Michael's/ Churchyard, Coppenhall are available in the Reference Section/ Reserve Store in Crewe Libarary.

Inscription legible?

yes

Names on memorial

Villiers Russell, Henri
Villiers Russell, John
See details for all 2 names

Commemorations

First World War (1914-1918)
Total names on memorial: 2
Served and returned: 0
Died: 2
Exact count: yes
Information shown: Surname, relationships, forenames, occupation, service, date of death, place of death, manner of death, place of burial.
Order of information: Undefined

Components

Board
Measurements: height c1000mm, width c600mm
Materials: Wood

Listing information

This memorial is not currently listed. Find out how to nominate this memorial for inclusion on the National Heritage List for England
More about listing and the protection of historic places can be found on the Historic England website

Condition

Henri Villiers Russell and John Villiers Russell
WMO ID: 271921
Condition: Good [last updated on 20-06-2020]
Help update these details if the condition is wrong

Trust fund/Scholarship

No
Purpose: Unknown or N/A

Sponsorship

Private
Details: Royal Naval Association (R.N.A.), Crewe.

Responsibility

District Council and R.N.A.

Reference

Potts, Mark and Tony Marks. Before the Bells Have Faded: The Sinking of HMS Formidable January 1, 1915. Nantwich, 2004.

This record comprises all information held by IWM’s War Memorials Register for this memorial. Where we hold a names list for the memorial, this information will be displayed on the memorial record. Please check back as we are adding more names to the database.

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