Henry Charles Gidley was an Ordinary Seaman, RN. He was killed on May 2, 1917, when his ship, HMS Derwent, was sunk by a German mine off Le Havre. He was only 18, and the second youngest Gidley to die.
Henry was the oldest son and second of six children of William Henry Gidley and his wife, Mary Esther nee Harris. Their ancestors originated in Dean Prior. Henry was born on February 7, 1899 in Portishead, Somerset. His father, William Henry Gidley, had served for several years as a Corporal in the Gloucestershire Regiment and had been discharged as medically unfit in 1902. In 1911 he described himself as an Army pensioner, factory timekeeper, at a cardboard box maker's, and was living in 16 Bromley Rd, Horfield, Bristol. In 1914 he signed up for the Army Special Reserve. His wife, Mary, was not at home in 1911, and could not be found in the census. In 1916, the year before her son Henry was killed, she had died in Devon County Asylum, Exminster. A widow, Mrs Saunders, was the family housekeeper in 1911 and Mrs Saunders was the person notified of Henry's death in 1917, although his father did not die until 1932.
Henry served on HMS Derwent, a destroyer attached to the 1st Flotilla. When the convoy system was introduced in 1916 the 1st Flotilla was employed in escort duties for convoys through the English Channel for the remainder of the war.On 2 May 1917 she struck a contact mine laid by German submarine UC-26 off Le Havre, France. She sank with the loss of 58 officers and men.
Henry is buried in Etretat Churchyard Extension, pictured above. Etretat is a small seaside town a few miles north of Le Havre.
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