Death of a national hero which left many questions
Throughout her life the mother of Ludlow's Brian Mear believed there was a lot more to her father's death in the Great War than was being admitted.
Petty Officer Alexander James Charles Duncan, a father of three, died in the sinking of the armoured cruiser HMS Hampshire off Orkney on June 5, 1916.
The loss of the ship was one of just many during the conflict, and despite the appalling toll of over 700 lost lives would have been a footnote in history had it not been for the fact that one of the fatalities was Lord Kitchener, the War Secretary and a national hero, whose death was considered a major disaster at the time.
HMS Hampshire sank in stormy seas after, according to official accounts, striking a mine.
But Brian says: "It was well known at the time that to some in the government, which included Prime Minister Herbert Asquith and his wife, Lord Kitchener's arrogant manner was unacceptable. He was, after all, a soldier and not a politician.
"My mother throughout her lifetime always maintained that Hampshire was deliberately scuttled to get rid of Kitchener."
It was a belief that something wasn't quite right which was somewhat reinforced when, during the 1970s, she fulfilled her lifelong ambition to journey to Orkney and visit her father's grave.
"When making inquiries to cross over to Hoy she made the acquaintance of an elderly lady who, when discovering that mum was a descendant of one of the Hampshire crew, threw her arms around her, hugged her, and said: 'My dear, you know we could have saved many of those lads, but they turned us back.'"
Brian says his mother Ethel, who was two when her father died, could only remember him from family photographs. She was soon to be orphaned, as Alex's wife Elizabeth died in 1921 after a fall from her bicycle, although Ethel was convinced that she had died of a broken heart.
"From a young boy I recall the many stories that mum told about the exploits of family members and their dedication to a life at sea. There is no doubt that she felt cheated by the loss of her father."
Brian and other family members were to make a pilgrimage to Orkney in June 2016, nine days after the exact centenary of Alex's death. The party comprised Brian, his sister Sheila and her husband Gerald, and Brian's brother Richard, and they saw the memorials and stood on the coast and looked out to sea, imagining those fateful events of 100 years previously.
They walked to the cemetery where Alex is buried and placed wooden crosses at the foot of the engraved stone that he shares with a Stoker, J.E. Jarvis.
"We took some photos and together we jointly paid homage to a man that we never had a chance to meet, but who at last we feel we now know.
"It was a moment that none of us will forget. It was a very worthwhile journey and a wish fulfilled.
"Despite all the official explanations regarding the sinking, one important question that has never been answered is why the naval authorities refused to give permission for the launch of the Stromness lifeboat which was ready and its crew willing to go to the rescue.
"In addition, local people were prevented from helping to rescue any of the survivors by the military at the time, a fact that was confirmed to me by two local men who were descendants of Stromness lifeboat crewmen."
