A chance search on the UK's largest family history website Ancestry, led a woman to make a pilgrimage from Bourton-on-Trent to the annual Remembrance service for HMS Monmouth today, November 1.

The service at St Mary’s Priory church, where there is a screen to commemorate HMS Monmouth, was to remember the crew of the sixth HMS Monmouth that was sunk at the Battle of Coronel on November 1st 1914 - the entire crew of 734 were lost.

Elaine Colbourne found out that her great uncle, Francis Glover -service number K5618 - was a leading stoker that went down with the ship in 1914.

Laying her own wreath alongside Commodore (Retd) Tobin Elliot and Mary Shipton, Elaine Colbourne told the Beacon that her daughter lives at Hewelsfield Common so they do come down to the area.

“My great uncle Francis was born in Melbourne Derbyshire and sadly we only have a picture of his sister, but it was a great moment to be here today.”

Leading the service was RNA Chaplain Catherine Haynes along with Standards from the Monmouth Branch of the Royal Naval Association - whose Standard Bearer,Tony Martin, has now seen 26 Coronel services -  the Royal British Legion (Gerry Bright), The Royal Air Force Association Standard (John Walker) and the Standard of the Lydney RBL (Derek Blake).

Also present was Officer in Charge of the Ross and Monmouth Sea cadets Ross Lloyd-Bennett and young sea cadet Cory Knight

The Last Post was played by Robert Morgan MBE, President of Lydbrook RBL.

Adrian Hamilton, Secretary of the Monmouth Branch of the Royal British Legion gave the Act of Remembrance and said the Naval Prayer. 

At Coronel, Admiral Cradock’s South Atlantic squadron - Good Hope (his flag ship), Monmouth, Glasgow Canopus, an old and outmoded battleship and the converted liner Otranto.

HMS Canopus, slowed by boiler trouble - came across the German squadron commanded by Admiral von Spee which comprised of two modern battle cruisers – SMS Scharnhorst (von Spee’s flag ship) and Gneisenau with the light cruisers Leipzig and Dresden; the Nürnberg having been despatched north to investigate suspect shipping.

The British ships were outmanoeuvred and outgunned and Cradock knew it.

Cradock sent his two weakest ships, the armed merchantman Otranto and the light cruiser HMS Glasgow, away and took on the Germans with just Monmouth and Good Hope.

The opening rounds of the battle were fired at a range of about seven miles.

At about 7pm, the German ships opened fire on the British squadron, Spee’s flagship, Scharnhorst, engaged Good Hope while Gneisenau fired a salvo into HMS Monmouth.

The German shooting was very accurate, with both armoured cruisers quickly scoring hits on their British counterparts, starting fires on both ships while still outside range of Cradock’s numerous six-inch guns.

Silhouetted against the sunset glow, Cradock’s ships were easier targets than von Spee’s and one shell from Gneisenau blew the roof off Monmouth’s forward turret starting a fire, causing an ammunition explosion.

Just after 9pm, the Nürnberg  passed close by to Monmouth and found her listing and burning but refusing to surrender despite Nuremburg illuminating Monmouth’s flag with its spotlight in the hopes that Monmouth would strike her colours

There was no response from the British ship so Nürnberg finished Monmouth off with 75 shells and she sank with all hands, only shortly after Cradock had gone down with his ship, HMS Good Hope. 

It was said that at a celebratory reception marking the Germans’ victory Admiral Spee replied that neither he nor his officers would drink a toast, and declared instead: “I drink to the memory of a gallant and honourable foe.”