Chief Motor Mechanic. Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (Motor Boat Reserve) Service number MB761.
Early life:
Frederick was born in Clapham in London on May 7, 1883. He was baptised at St John the Evangelist Church in Clapham. His parents were George Isaac and Maria Lock and they lived at 6, Medley Street. George was a gas fitter.
By 1891 they had moved to 206, Seaside, Eastbourne in Sussex and Frederick was seven years old. His father was working as a plumber.
Ten years later in 1901 he was seventeen and working as a plumber whilst his father’s occupation had changed to zinc worker. They were living at 70, Bourne Street and he now had a sister, Dorothy. In the second quarter of 1907, Frederick married Blanch Alice Warren in Kensington, London. She was from Clifford’s Mesne in Gloucestershire. In 1911, Frederick and Blanch were living at 79, Milsom Road in Kensington, London with her sister Amy Warren and Frederick was working as a domestic chauffer. At some point they moved to Oakworth but we are not sure why, although it was probably work related.
War service:
On 29th December 1915, Frederick was a motor mechanic when he joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve for the duration of hostilities and served with various establishments during his training. He was of satisfactory of superior ability throughout his service and his character was always very good. He was awarded a good conduct badge on 28th December 1918.
He was eventually posted to the Motor Boat Flotilla which set out from Portsmouth for Le Havre on December 22, 1918. They lost two boats in the crossing.
The Field Navigation Commission, headquartered at Nancy, had been established to regulate all navigable waterways within the occupied territories including rivers and canals in Belgium, the Rhine between Alsace-Lorraine and the Dutch frontier, the Moselle from Alsace-Lorraine to its junction with the Rhine, and the Saar from Alsace-Lorraine to its junction with the Moselle.
In support of this the British and French deployed ships to their respective headquarter cities. Both relied upon the Motor launches and Commander The Honourable PGEC Acheson, MVO, DSO, RN, received his sailing orders on 14 December 1918. He was to proceed to Cologne by way of the rivers and canals of France; departing on the 17th of the month with twelve ML’s to comprise the Rhine Patrol Flotilla. Their course was an expedient imposed by the limitations of Dutch neutrality which prevented direct warship access via the Rhine.
Ships or establishments Frederick served at:
HMS Resourceful 29 Dec 15 to 10 Jan 16. A depot ship lost in a fire at the end of 1915.
HMS Hermione 11 Jan 16 to 18 Mar 16. An Astraea Class Protected Cruiser which was sold to The Marine Society in 1921 and became a student training ship in 1922.
HMS Victory II from 19 Mar 16 to 22 Apr 16. An administrative establishment at Crystal Palace.
HMS Hermione from 23 Apr 16 to 14 May 16. As above.
HMS Victory II from 15 May 16 to 31 Jul 16. As above.
HMS Actaelon from 1 Aug 16 to 1 Dec 16. Shore establishment, part of HMS Vernon.
HMS Actaelon from 2 Dec 16 to 12 Oct 18. As above.
HMS Hermione (Motor boats) from 13 Oct 18 to 19 Dec 18. Guard ship at Southampton at the outbreak of war, later becoming HQ Ship for motor launches and coastal motor boats from December 1916 until December 1919.
HMS ML291 from 20 Dec 18. Set out with the Motor Boat Flotilla from Portsmouth to Le Havre.
HMS ML229 from 20 Dec 18 to 12 May 19. Frederick Lock was killed when ML229 was being fuelled at Cologne. An explosion took place, injuring several crew and killing Frederick. The boat was wrecked.
Remembrance:
He was buried in grave 25, row F of plot 5 in Cologne Southern Cemetery at Nordrhein-Westfalen in Germany.
Fred was posthumously awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal for his war service, which would have gone to Blanche along with any personal effects and a Bronze Great War Memorial plaque inscribed with Frederick’s name.
He is named on the Eastbourne War Memorial panel at Eastbourne Town Hall. His name was added to the Oakworth Great War Centenary roll of honour which is on display at Oakworth Community Hall.
Post war:
Both Frederick and Blanche were registered as voters in the 1919 electoral roll as living at James Street in Oakworth. They were both listed under the voting qualification of NM for ‘Naval and Military,’ which means they were absent voters, serving away with the armed forces. Frederick’s RNVR record also shows them living at 13, James Street in Oakworth.
After the war, Blanche moved back to Eastbourne to live with Frederick’s parents. She remarried at the age of 40 in early 1921, to widower Frank Sogno a ‘Victualler’ who at 60 years of age was twenty years her senior. They were living at 38, Upper Avenue in Eastbourne during the 1921 Census with Eva aged 16 and Hubert age 13. Also there was Margaret Hellioke, a 22 year old domestic servant.
Frank Sogno died at Hillcrest in Brodrick Road, Hampden Park in Eastbourne, on 25th May 1938 aged 77.
Blanche died at St. Mary’s Hospital in Eastbourne, on the 2nd of April 1960 aged 79.
